White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Amy Paulin's Albany: Legislative Report.

WPCNR'S AMY PAULIN'S ALBANY. By Assemblyperson Amy Paulin. 88th Assembly District. June 29, 2008: With the close of the 2008 legislative session, I am very pleased that a remarkable number of the bills I authored passed the Assembly and the Senate: a total of 18. Here is a summary:

Protecting Our Children
To ensure that our children remain healthy and well protected, my legislation:

obligates parents to financially support their children until age eighteen, instead of sixteen (Chapter 70).
aims to reduce underage drinking. This bill encourages bar and restaurant owners to provide employee training on how to identify underage drinkers and the legal consequences of serving minors. Restaurant owners will receive an insurance incentive for offering this training (A.537b).
prohibits smoking in dormitories and on-campus residence halls to eliminate the adverse health effects of second-hand smoke, reduce the number of college students who become regular smokers, and mitigate the possibility of fires (A.538a).
requires the Crime Victims Board to reimburse hospitals and child abuse advocacy centers when they call in child abuse pediatricians to identify children who have been abused or mistreated (A.5206a).
establishes state-funded fellowships in child abuse pediatrics to encourage physicians to become trained specifically in identifying, treating and preventing child abuse and maltreatment. Currently, there is a shortage of such experts in the state (A.9628b).
creates a uniform least restrictive restraining procedure for children placed in mental treatment programs. This will eliminate the confusion of deciding which procedure to use during an intervention thereby protecting both the distressed students and the persons caring for them (A.11231).

Fighting Crime and Domestic Violence
Named "A Leader in the Fight Against Domestic Violence" by the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NYSCADV), I have passed legislation to protect victims against domestic violence and other crimes. Such legislation:

protects victims of domestic violence by establishing a criminal penalty for those who prevent a person from calling 911 or seeking any other kind of emergency assistance (Chapter 69).
requires the State to reimburse domestic violence agencies for emergency shelter they provide to undocumented human trafficking victims (A.10228).
clarifies that the crime of sodomy is included in the list of crimes for which there is no statute of limitations. This bill eliminates a loophole in an existing law which had the unintended result of not including sodomy as a crime that can be prosecuted without a time limit (A.10760).

Open and More Responsive Government
To ensure that citizens have maximum access to public records and policy-making decisions, I have passed legislation which:

requires government agencies designing information systems to do so in a manner that separates public information from non-public data, such as personal health data or social security numbers. Previously, otherwise legitimate FOIL requests have had to be denied because the public data could not be segregated from private data thereby prohibiting maximum access to public records (A.582).
provides reimbursement for attorneys' fees where a party was compelled to go to court to enforce the state Open Meetings Laws. Awarding attorneys' fees to successful petitioners eliminates any financial barriers that could prohibit full enforcement of the law due to the inability of an individual to afford counsel (A.1033a).
allows New York State unemployment insurance recipients to withhold 10% of their weekly unemployment benefits for state income tax purposes. Taxpayers who choose this option can avoid a large and sometimes unexpected payment when their state income taxes are due. This option already exists for federal income tax purposes (A.9868).
establishes that property assessment data, consisting of the physical characteristics of a property, must be made available for public inspection and copying. Allowing the public access to these records will assist property owners who seek to challenge their assessments and ensure a more accurate tax roll (A.11150).

Honoring Women's History
In recognition of the contributions that women have made throughout history, my legislation:

promotes awareness of women's history by publicizing historic places in New York State that represent the struggle for equal rights. Some of the sites to be included on the trail are Carrie Chapman Catt's home in New Rochelle, the Susan B. Anthony house, Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, the Elizabeth Stanton House and the gravesites of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Carrie Chapman Catt in the Bronx (A.9952a).

Affordable and Accessible Healthcare
To ensure affordable, quality healthcare for a wider group of people, my legislation:

allows licensed pharmacists who have received proper training to administer flu and pneumonia shots to adults. New York was the only state in the country other than Maine that did not allow trained pharmacists to provide these vaccinations (A.2140d).
aims to decrease the rising number of unnecessary caesarian section births by offering education and outreach programs to patients and healthcare providers. The programs will include information on the benefits and risks of birthing procedures, the various delivery options, and the importance of maintaining proper health care from preconception through delivery (A.7674b).

Responding to Community Concerns
To alleviate parking problems, my legislation:

grants residents of the village of Bronxville who live in the vicinity of a construction site an exemption from on-street parking restrictions until the project is completed in 2011. Approximately 180 parking spaces will be displaced by the construction project creating a shortage of parking for nearby residents (A.10519).

Recognizing Veterans
In honor of the service that all veterans have provided to our nation, I have sponsored legislation which:

allows municipalities to provide veterans who served in the Cold War an exemption from real property tax (Chapter 6).

Fifteen additional bills passed in the Assembly but not in the Senate. I will continue to work to pass them into law next year.

Representing you in the New York State Assembly has been a great privilege for me. While this past year was tumultuous in many ways, it was personally very gratifying. I look forward to continuing to work with you to move our great state forward. As always, please contact me at any time with your issues or concerns.


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