Newsroom

In a major victory in his three-year battle to enhance women’s ability to protect themselves against breast cancer, Senator John J. Flanagan (2nd Senate District) announced that legislation (6769B) he sponsored to assist in the fight against breast cancer has passed the Senate and is expected to pass in the Assembly.  The legislation will provide women with dense breasts the information they need to make decisions regarding their health care.

The New York State Senate today passed the “Public Assistance Integrity Act” to protect public assistance for welfare recipients from being used to purchase cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, lottery tickets or for casino gambling.  Unlike Food Stamps purchases, cash assistance purchases are currently permitted under New York State law.

The state Senate today passed three bills to help grow and expand the craft beer industry in New York State.  The bills, which represent a three-way agreement among the Senate, Assembly and Governor Cuomo, will protect an important tax benefit for small breweries that produce beer in New York, create a Farm Brewery license that will allow craft brewers to expand their operations through opening restaurants or selling new products and will exempt breweries that produce small batches of beer from paying an annual State Liquor Authority fee.

The New York State Senate today passed legislation, sponsored by Senator Lee Zeldin (R, C, I- Shirley), that would crack down on organized retail crime, a growing problem that harms businesses and their customers. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, organized retail theft is an industry that costs United States retailers about $30 billion per year. Supermarket losses account for $15 billion of that annual theft.  Additionally, state and local governments are losing out on tens of millions of dollars annually in lost sales tax and excise fee revenue.

The New York State Senate today responded to the need for increased protection against financial exploitation of elderly and vulnerable adults by passing legislation to make such actions a crime. The legislation (S6712), sponsored by Senator Patrick M.

The New York State Senate today passed legislation that would help some breast cancer patients by requiring insurance companies to cover reconstruction for partial mastectomies.

“Viewing child pornography is a despicable act. This legislation will help protect children by imposing tough new penalties on people who view or possess child pornography. I applaud Senator Golden for his leadership on this issue which is at the top of the Senate’s criminal justice agenda, and I thank Governor Cuomo for working with us to achieve a bipartisan agreement.”

A new report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce showing that New York has jumped 11 spots in the rankings of top states for growth, productivity and livability is proof positive that the Governor and Senate Republicans are making progress in turning New York around.

Over the last 18 months, we’ve brought spending under control, slammed the door on tax increases that make it more difficult for businesses and families, and laid a solid foundation to create thousands of new jobs. 

We’ve reduced middle class taxes, enacted a property tax cap and approved Recharge NY.  Under our leadership, Albany is no longer a hindrance to small businesses and innovators, it’s a partner for economic progress.

The New York State Senate today gave final legislative passage to a bill (S6774A), sponsored by Senator Patty Ritchie (R-C, Heuvelton), which bans people from owning, selling, or manufacturing animal fighting paraphernalia. The Senate took up the bill on New York State Animal Advocacy Day at the Capitol, where legislators and animal advocates network, share ideas, and lobby for stronger anti-cruelty laws.  "Animals are defenseless, with no sort of protection from the cruel, senseless and illegal practice that is animal fighting," said Senator Ritchie.  "By passing this bill, and making an effort to outlaw animal fighting tools, we are cracking down on animal fights and the activities that often go along with them, like illegal gambling and drug dealing."