STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1268
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 8, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. KRUEGER, BAILEY, BENJAMIN, BIAGGI, BRESLIN, COMRIE,
HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KAPLAN, LIU, MAY, MAYER, PARKER, PERSAUD,
SALAZAR, SANDERS, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, STAVISKY -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Judiciary
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing an amendment to article 1 of the constitution, in relation to
equality of rights and protection against discrimination
1 Section 1. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That article 1 of the
2 constitution be amended by adding a new section 19 to read as follows:
3 § 19. (a) No person shall be denied equal rights under the laws of
4 this state or any subdivision thereof based on that person's race,
5 color, ethnicity, national origin, disability, or sex including pregnan-
6 cy and pregnancy outcomes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and
7 gender expression.
8 (b) No government entity, nor any entity acting in concert with or on
9 behalf of the government, nor any entity in its provision of public
10 accommodations, employment, or personnel practices shall discriminate
11 against any person in either intent or effect based on the character-
12 istics listed in subdivision (a) of this section.
13 (c) No government entity, nor any entity acting in concert with or on
14 behalf of the government, nor any entity in the provision of public
15 accommodations, employment, or personnel practices shall discriminate
16 against any person based on that person's religion. In interpreting this
17 section, the courts shall analyze claims of religious discrimination
18 under the same analysis and standards applied to claims under section
19 three of this article.
20 (d) Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption
21 of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to remedy
22 or ameliorate demonstrated past discrimination on the basis of a charac-
23 teristic listed in this section.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD89009-01-1
S. 1268 2
1 (e) This section shall be self-executing. The legislature may expand
2 upon the entitlement to equal rights and freedom from discrimination
3 hereby secured.
4 § 2. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the foregoing amendment
5 be referred to the first regular legislative session convening after the
6 next succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in
7 conformity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be
8 published for three months previous to the time of such election.