Efforts to crack down on violent crime, address animal cruelty, and counter antisemitism in New York hit a roadblock this week as the Assembly Majority Conference rejected a slate of bills proposed by Republican lawmakers. Nearly 20 public safety proposals, including measures to strengthen penalties for gun crimes and protect correction officers, were blocked in committee and will not advance to a full Assembly vote.
The rejected bills, all backed by the Assembly Minority Conference, touched on a wide range of issues, from mandatory life sentences for the murder of minors and first responders to voter ID requirements and increased penalties for juvenile firearm offenses.
Among the more contentious proposals was “Laken’s Law,” which would require law enforcement to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when non-citizens are arrested or convicted. The Assembly Majority also blocked an attempt to repeal the “green light law,” which permits undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.
Minority lawmakers criticized the committee rejections as political obstruction. “It is astonishingly clear what we are doing is not working,” the release stated, citing rising crime and a strained system amid the migrant crisis. “Our Conference offered a list of meaningful reforms rooted in pragmatism and public sentiment,” the statement continued, “yet the bills we proposed… get little more than perfunctory, blanket ‘no’ votes.”
Other bills that failed to move forward included legislation to make spitting on correction officers a felony, to allow judges to consider a defendant’s danger to the community in bail decisions, and to require government-issued ID for in-person voting.
Also blocked was the Dismantling Student Antisemitism Act, which sought to mandate antisemitism awareness training, reporting on campus incidents, and withhold state funds from institutions that failed to comply.
Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay vowed to keep pushing for the legislation, saying his members “will continue to submit legislation aimed at making our state safer and more prosperous, no matter how stubbornly our Assembly colleagues resist.”
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