“Drunk driving is an incredibly reckless and dangerous crime, made all the more senseless and heinous when a child’s life is on the line,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “This multi-pronged measure will make drunk drivers think twice before climbing behind the wheel with a child passenger, and harshly punish those who do so.”
The new legislation creates the first-time felony of driving while intoxicated with a child passenger. The crime punishes drunk drivers with blood-alcohol contents of 0.08 or higher who have child passengers age 15 or younger, and carries with it a possible prison sentence of up to 1 1/3 to 4 years and fines as high as $5,000. The legislation also strengthens the existing crimes of first-degree vehicular assault (D felony), first-degree vehicular manslaughter (C felony), aggravated vehicular assault (C felony), and aggravated vehicular homicide (B felony). Under the bill, a person charged with the new first-time felony will be very limited in their ability to plea bargain. Moreover, arresting officers who stop drivers for the new crime must contact New York State Child Protective Services, where warranted, if the offending driver is the parent, guardian, or is otherwise legally responsible for the child passenger.
The bill also requires the installation of ignition interlock devices by those convicted of the new crime, any misdemeanor or felony DWI, and any DWI-related penal law felony. Ignition interlock devices—breathalyzers tied to a car’s ignition system—prevent drunk drivers from starting their vehicles. Under the bill, operating a vehicle without such a device, or bypassing or tampering with it, would constitute a Class A misdemeanor.
According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, alcohol was responsible for 9,202 accidents and 381 fatalities in New York in 2008. The new law has the support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the New York State District Attorneys Association.
“The deadly decision to drive drunk is not one to be taken lightly,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “It’s a serious crime that destroys lives. The law will go a long way toward keeping our children and our roadways safe from reckless drunk drivers.”
This bill has also passed the Senate and has been signed into law.
Assemblyman Bob Sweeney announced that the Assembly passed mandate relief legislation that will streamline services in New York State, cutting down on wasteful spending and saving taxpayers millions.
“This is a sweeping bill that targets several areas in need of mandate reform and relief,” Sweeney said. “Especially in financially daunting times like these, when New York is grappling with a $3.9 billion deficit, we need to take a serious look at where we can streamline, consolidate and organize to make government run more efficiently. That’s exactly what this legislation does.”
The legislation covers a variety of areas, including:
“Without these reforms, an insured individual who is injured can’t recover damages from the wrongdoer, but the insurance company can. That’s not really conducive to healing and getting back on one’s feet, but it certainly does serve the insurance company’s interests,” Sweeney said. “This reform legislation not only cuts down on the costly racket of double dipping, but it also allows the injured to collect the damages they deserve and need.”
In addition to health-related mandate relief, the legislation addresses procurement and municipal bond bank agency pooling, as well as measures to improve coordination of state and local highway services:
“The purpose of this legislation is not just to streamline services to save money for the state, but to also provide relief to New York’s hardworking families,” Sweeney said. “Through straightforward measures like this we can make some serious headway in not only making New York run more efficiently but also sparing families the pain of paying excess taxes for services they either don’t need or which can be comfortably consolidated or reduced.”
This bill has been signed into law.
Legislation to reform the way the state handles information technology procurement has been signed into law. The measure is slated to save the state over $50 million this year and make government more transparent.
“New York State is falling behind other states in getting value for its procurement dollar, particularly in technology,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “With the state facing a record budget deficit, every dollar counts. We currently have contractors and consultants on the state payroll performing duties that should be done for much less by state employees. This system needs to be overhauled immediately.”
Specifically, the legislation reduces the number of contracted full-time information technology (IT) employees by broadening the governor’s flexibility in hiring pursuant to civil service law.
“Keeping technology jobs in-house will ensure state dollars are being spent to grow our workforce and improve transparency in our government,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “This cost-saving legislation will develop the information technology skills needed to keep the state workforce up to date.”
The bill has been passed by both the Assembly and the Senate and awaits action by the governor.
Assemblyman Sweeney said the bill would authorize a municipality to adopt a local law establishing their own energy-efficiency loan program—which would use the federal funding to offer low-interest loans to property owners for installing energy-efficient improvements and renewable systems. The Sweeney bill has been signed into law.
“Many homeowners and business owners would jump at the chance to reduce their carbon footprint and help promote greener, more eco-friendly operations, but making those improvements can be very costly,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “This program provides a valuable incentive and helps offset the immediate costs by creating a loan system that allows for payments to be made on your property tax bills over time.”
Sweeney said improvements could include basic measures like window and door replacement, caulking, weather-stripping, air-sealing, insulation and heating and cooling upgrades, as well as the installation of renewable energy systems—larger projects that will make an even bigger impact. These include energy-generating systems like solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, wind, geothermal, anaerobic digester gas-to-electricity systems, and fuel cell technologies.
“The PACE loans are a significant further incentive for municipalities to get involved in encouraging energy efficiency for homeowners and businesses,” said Sweeney. “It is important that New York tap into these important federal resources to continue its important goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This program will build on the new state law that allows towns to include the operation of a home energy efficiency program within their refuse and garbage districts. Energy efficiency programs help decrease electricity and heating fuel demand. This program will help homeowners to go green while saving green. Improving energy efficiency will not only reduce an energy bill, but it will reduce emissions that contribute to global warming. This is a win for the pocketbook, the environment and job creation.”
The “green jobs, green New York” program that was also signed into law this year directs up to $4 million to establish green jobs training programs throughout the state, and requires State agencies to develop additional sources of job-training funds, Sweeney said.
Since severe weather and a poor economy pose serious risks to working families and the elderly during the winter, the State also offers help with the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), a federally funded program that issues financial assistance to help with a household’s heating cost. Assistance and incentives are also available for families and individuals looking to weatherize their homes and businesses, according to Assemblyman Sweeney.
For further information about HEAP, including how to apply, please call the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s (OTDA) toll-free hotline at (800) 342-3009, or visit the OTDA Web site at www.otda.state.ny.us/main/heap/. To find out if you are eligible for HEAP Assistance, visit www.myBenefits.ny.gov.
“These programs will help revive New York’s struggling economy by encouraging investment in these energy-efficiency improvements, and will also help protect our environment,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “Promoting green energy doesn’t have to mean paying excessively for improvements. It’s time for New York to become more energy and cost efficient, and this takes a huge step by incorporating municipalities across our state and making crucial federal funds available.”
Assemblyman Bob Sweeney announced the Assembly has passed an amendment to the COBRA benefits law allowing a group of individuals who were covered at the time the law became effective—yet were unable to receive the extension if their benefits expired before their contract was renewed—to continue receiving coverage. The original law, passed in June, extended COBRA benefits from 18 to 36 months for individuals whose policies were issued or renewed after July 1 of this year.
“With the national unemployment rate at a 26-year high, an increasing number of workers are experiencing extended periods of job loss or being forced to work part-time,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “The result is a loss of group health insurance coverage that these workers cannot afford.”
The original law extended health insurance coverage offered through COBRA, but the timeframe for renewing certain contracts inadvertently disqualified a number of individuals. This amendment ensures that these struggling New Yorkers continue to receive the health benefits they need.
The amendment:
COBRA allows workers and their families who lose their health benefits—because of voluntary or involuntary job loss, reduction in hours worked, transition between jobs, death, divorce or other life-altering events—the right to continue their health benefits provided by their group health plan for a limited period of time.
As companies downsize, older workers are often offered early retirement options as an alternative to lay-offs. These individuals may not have retiree health benefits and can be years away from Medicare. This bill allows these individuals to maintain their existing coverage for a longer period of time, without which they would be uninsured after 18 months.
“Providing New Yorkers with coverage, particularly if their employment status is reduced, is a priority,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “This extension ensures that affordable health insurance coverage is available to those who need it.”
This bill has been signed into law.
Assemblyman Bob Sweeney has announced the Assembly passed legislation to enact sweeping public authorities reform, stepping up accountability and shedding new light on the more than 700 public authorities operating with startling autonomy throughout New York. Public authorities are quasi-governmental agencies created for a public purpose, such as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, public benefit corporations and the Thruway Authority, that operate largely without government oversight and with limited public scrutiny.
“For years we’ve been acutely aware that the state’s public authorities are in need of serious reform. I supported legislation to streamline public authority operations and increase oversight,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “Too often, public authorities have lost their focus—burning through money and straying more and more from their mission statements. The Assembly has been a leader in recognizing the need for these reforms.”
A two-year investigation into the mismanagement of New York’s public authorities resulted in the Public Authority Accountability Act of 2005, Sweeney said. This legislation was an important first step toward improving public authority operations and oversight, but additional measures are needed to get and keep these agencies on track and functioning as they were intended.
Recognizing the need for comprehensive reform of New York’s public authorities, the legislation delivers critical reform by:
“This legislation has tremendous support from the public and provides the reforms that New York’s public authorities need,” Assemblyman Sweeney said. “Especially in difficult economic times, the people of New York deserve to know where and how their money is being spent.”
The bill was signed by the governor.