NY State Senate Bill 2023-S1247

Senate Bill S1247

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Expands the offense of assault in the second degree to include the causing of injury to a frontline employee enforcing a rule or regulation related to controlling the spread of communicable diseases

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to codes
Jan 11, 2023	referred to codes

2023-S1247 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §120.05, Pen L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S7405

2023-S1247 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Expands the offense of assault in the second degree to include the causing of injury to a frontline employee enforcing a city or state rule or regulation related to controlling the spread of communicable diseases.

2023-S1247 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1247

SPONSOR: KRUEGER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to expanding the offense of
assault in the second degree to include the causing of injury to a
frontline employee enforcing a city or state rule or regulation related
to controlling the spread of communicable diseases

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To provide additional protection to frontline workers who have been
charged by governments to ensure compliance with State and City rules
controlling the spread of communicable diseases.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Legislative Intent

Section 2. Expands the definition of assault in the second degree to
includa causing injury to a frontline worker for enforcing a city or

state rule or regulation to control the spread of communicable diseases

 
JUSTIFICATION:

To control the spread of communicable diseases, such as COVID-19, State
and local governments have instituted new rules and regulations around
the wearing of personal protective equipment, and receiving vaccines.
Checking compliance with these rules is often the responsibility of
frontline workers. Due to the highly polarized nature of the seriousness
of communicable diseases, frontline workers are being verbally and phys-
ically assaulted for checking a patron's vaccine status, and reminding
individuals to comply with mask wearing and other rules to reduce the
spread of communicable diseases. This bill provides additional
protection to the frontline workers that have been deputized by the
State and local government by increasing the penalty of assaulting such
worker to a class D felony.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-22 S.7405 Referred to Codes

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2023-S1247 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1247
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 11, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to expanding the  offense  of
   assault  in  the  second  degree to include the causing of injury to a
   frontline employee enforcing  a  city  or  state  rule  or  regulation
   related to controlling the spread of communicable diseases
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative intent. The purpose of this act is  to  provide
 additional protection to the frontline employees who have been deputized
 by  the  state and by local governments to enforce the various rules and
 regulations surrounding controlling the spread of communicable diseases.
 State and local governments have instituted  various  policies  such  as
 requiring  the  wearing  of  personal protective equipment and requiring
 patrons to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19.  They  have  left
 enforcement  of  such policies up to local restaurants, venue employees,
 bus drivers, teachers and other frontline employees. Recent  attacks  on
 restaurant  employees  have  shown that due to the politicized nature of
 these public health policies, we must provide additional  protection  to
 frontline employees who are charged with enforcing the various rules and
 regulations put forth to reduce the spread of communicable diseases.
   § 2. Section 120.05 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi-
 vision 15 to read as follows:
   15.  WITH  INTENT  TO  PREVENT OR OBSTRUCT ANY FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE FROM
 ENFORCING ANY CITY OR STATE RULE OR REGULATION  RELATED  TO  CONTROLLING
 THE SPREAD OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES, HE OR SHE CAUSES PHYSICAL INJURY TO
 SUCH FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04827-01-3

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