Rpld §2500-l, Pub Health L (as proposed in S.6707 & A.6986-A)
Requires the department of health of the state of New York to conduct a review of the effects of racial and ethnic disparities on breastfeeding rates and prepare and submit a report to the governor and the legislature.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
987
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 6, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Health
AN ACT requiring the department of health of the state of New York to
conduct a review of the effects of racial and ethnic disparities on
breastfeeding rates and prepare and submit a report to the governor
and the legislature; and repealing certain provisions of the public
health law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2500-l of the public health law, as added by a
2 chapter of the laws of 2020, amending the public health law relating to
3 requiring the department of health of the state of New York to conduct a
4 study of the effects of racial and ethnic disparities on breastfeeding
5 rates and prepare and submit a report to the governor and the legisla-
6 ture, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.6707 and A.6986-A, is
7 REPEALED.
8 § 2. 1. The department of health shall conduct a review of breastfeed-
9 ing data and create a report for the purpose of identifying statewide
10 and regional racial and ethnic disparities in breastfeeding rates.
11 2. The department of health shall solicit recommendations from persons
12 specializing in the fields of neonatal and post neonatal pathology,
13 maternal and infant health, breastfeeding medicine, minority health
14 advocacy, or other related fields, and stakeholders representing racial
15 and ethnic minorities in geographic areas that have the lowest breast-
16 feeding rates, concerning:
17 (a) Barriers to successful breastfeeding, especially among racial and
18 ethnic minorities and populations with low breastfeeding rates;
19 (b) Strategies to reduce barriers to successful breastfeeding, espe-
20 cially among racial and ethnic minorities and populations with low
21 breastfeeding rates;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07117-01-1
A. 987 2
1 (c) Strategies to improve access to prenatal and postpartum health
2 care services, including lactation support, in the state; and
3 (d) Strategies to increase breastfeeding rates and reduce racial and
4 ethnic disparities in breastfeeding rates in the state.
5 3. Within eighteen months after the effective date of this section,
6 the department of health shall submit to the governor, the temporary
7 president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority lead-
8 er of the senate and the minority leader of the assembly a report
9 containing the review's findings concerning the effects of racial and
10 ethnic disparities, which shall include a description of the department
11 of health's efforts to improve breastfeeding rates, awareness, and
12 access to supports and stakeholder recommendations.
13 4. The department of health may prepare and submit additional reports
14 when the department deems it appropriate, and each report, with the
15 exception of the first report prepared under this section, shall addi-
16 tionally identify the extent to which the prior recommendations have
17 been successfully implemented in practice and the apparent impact that
18 the implementation of such recommended changes has had on breastfeeding
19 rates in the preceding years.
20 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
21 section one shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as
22 a chapter of the laws of 2020, amending the public health law relating
23 to requiring the department of health of the state of New York to
24 conduct a study of the effects of racial and ethnic disparities on
25 breastfeeding rates and prepare and submit a report to the governor and
26 the legislature, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.6707 and
27 A.6986-A, takes effect.
