Law New is a weekly update on lawmaking in the City.
New York State has many levels of law, including constitutional, statutory and regulatory, and case law. The legislative process for making changes to laws begins with an idea for a policy. These ideas often come from a senator’s constituents or an organization that calls for a change in the law. The idea is then drafted into a bill, which is a set of instructions for changing the law. The drafting of bills requires specialized legal training. Lawyers working in State agencies and the executive branch also draft bills.
The bill is then reviewed and voted on by the Senate and the Assembly. If the bill passes both houses of the legislature, it goes to the Governor. The Governor has 10 days to sign the bill or veto it. A signed bill becomes a law; a vetoed bill does not. The Legislature may override the Governor’s veto by voting to do so in both houses of the legislature.
In this week’s Law New, the Senate and Assembly passed the following legislation:
DATA BREAKING:
A new law requires City agencies that suffer a security breach to promptly disclose the information to affected persons. The legislation also makes the disclosure requirement more consistent with State law, including requirements under the SHIELD Act.
GENERAL VENDING:
Local Law 53 of 2024 amends the City’s code to prohibit general vendors and mobile food vendors from vending or engaging in vendor-related activity in bicycle lanes. The law also eliminates the requirement that general vendors and mobile food vendors obtain a tax clearance certificate to operate in the City.
CONSUMER PROTECTION:
Local Law 132 of 2021 requires licensed process servers to provide notice of student loan forgiveness programs to their employees and job applicants. The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) is adopting rules to implement this law.
DCWP is also adopting rules to update the Powered Mobility Devices Penalty Schedule, and to implement Local Law 144 of 2021, which requires anyone who wants to use automated employment decision tools to conduct a bias audit first and notify job applicants.
