senate Bill S2987A

Signed By Governor
2021-2022 Legislative Session

Declares racism a public health crisis and establishes a working group to promote racial equity throughout the state

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Signed by Governor


  • Introduced
  • In Committee
  • On Floor Calendar
    • Passed Senate
    • Passed Assembly
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed by Governor

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Actions

view actions (15)
Assembly Actions - Lowercase
Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Dec 22, 2021 signed chap.775
Dec 10, 2021 delivered to governor
Jun 10, 2021 returned to senate
passed assembly
Jun 08, 2021 ordered to third reading rules cal.565
substituted for a5679a
May 05, 2021 referred to governmental operations
delivered to assembly
passed senate
Apr 21, 2021 advanced to third reading
Apr 20, 2021 2nd report cal.
Apr 19, 2021 1st report cal.661
Apr 02, 2021 print number 2987a
Apr 02, 2021 amend and recommit to health
Jan 26, 2021 referred to health

S2987 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A5679
Law Section:
Public Health
Versions Introduced in 2019-2020 Legislative Session:
S8673

S2987 - Summary

Declares racism a public health crisis; establishes a working group within the department of health to promote racial equity throughout the state and address issues related to racism as a public health crisis.

S2987 - Sponsor Memo

S2987 - Bill Text download pdf

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2987
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 26, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to declare racism a public health crisis and to establish a work-
   ing group to promote racial equity throughout the state
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Legislative  findings  and  declarations. The legislature
 hereby finds and declares that racism is a  public  health  crisis  that
 poses  a threat to the health, safety, and quality of life to as many as
 forty-seven million Americans; and that racism  negatively  impacts  and
 exacerbates  health  inequities among historically marginalized communi-
 ties. The legislature further finds and declares that racism contributes
 to a national disparity between black and white infant mortality  rates;
 and  that  racism contributes to inequalities in housing, education, and
 employment, and that racism negatively impacts the lives  of  people  of
 color  in New York.  The legislature further finds that race is a social
 construct not rooted in  meaningful  biological  differences,  and  this
 system  unfairly  disadvantages  specific  individuals  and communities,
 while giving advantages to  other  individuals  and  communities.    The
 legislature  further  finds  and  declares  that the impact of racism on
 public health deserves action from all levels of government.  Therefore,
 this  legislation  establishes a working group to address issues related
 to racism and ensure the health and safety of the citizens of the state.
   § 2. There is hereby  established  within  the  office  of  the  state
 commissioner of health a working group to be known as the "racial equity
 working group".
   § 3. The working group shall address the issues related to racism as a
 public  health crisis, and biennially, shall study and provide recommen-
 dations for legislative or other  actions  that  can  be  undertaken  to
 reduce or eliminate racial and ethnic disparities, including:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07219-01-1

Co-Sponsors

S2987A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A5679
Law Section:
Public Health
Versions Introduced in 2019-2020 Legislative Session:
S8673

S2987A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Declares racism a public health crisis; establishes a working group within the department of health to promote racial equity throughout the state and address issues related to racism as a public health crisis.

S2987A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S2987A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  2987--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 26, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed  to  the  Committee  on  Health  --  committee
   discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
   to said committee
 
 AN ACT to declare racism a public health crisis and to establish a work-
   ing group to promote racial equity throughout the state
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative  findings  and  declarations.  The  legislature
 hereby  finds  and  declares  that racism is a public health crisis that
 poses a threat to the health, safety, and quality of life to as many  as
 forty-seven  million  Americans;  and that racism negatively impacts and
 exacerbates health inequities among historically  marginalized  communi-
 ties. The legislature further finds and declares that racism contributes
 to  a national disparity between black and white infant mortality rates;
 and that racism contributes to inequalities in housing,  education,  and
 employment,  and  that  racism negatively impacts the lives of people of
 color in New York.  The legislature further finds that race is a  social
 construct  not  rooted  in  meaningful  biological differences, and this
 system unfairly  disadvantages  specific  individuals  and  communities,
 while  giving  advantages  to  other  individuals and communities.   The
 legislature further finds and declares that  the  impact  of  racism  on
 public  health deserves action from all levels of government. Therefore,
 this legislation establishes a working group to address  issues  related
 to racism and ensure the health and safety of the citizens of the state.
   §  2.  There  is  hereby established within the department of health a
 working group to be known as the "racial equity working group".
   § 3. The working group shall study  issues  related  to  racism  as  a
 public  health  crisis,  and  develop recommendations for legislative or
 other actions that can be undertaken to reduce or eliminate  racial  and
 ethnic disparities.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

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