ALBANY, NY – Those top lines are like a checklist of national Democratic priorities: Gun safety. Abortion. Voting right.
Democratic lawmakers in Albany plunged into national debate on Thursday, manipulating supermajority groups to enact protections denied elsewhere after mass shooting and a conservative shift in other states and on the Supreme Court.
The State Legislature has passed a “microstamp” semi-automatic pistol bill, implementing new technology to help police solve crime by linking cases of ammunition to the gun that fired them; Legislators also banned most civilians from buying bulletproof vests.
These measures are part of a large package of gun bills that will also raise the minimum age to buy a semi-automatic rifle to 21 and modify the so-called state’s red flag law. The bills, which are expected to pass Thursday night, would make New York the first state to enact legislation following the shootings in Buffalo and Texas that left a total of 31 people dead.
Lawmakers are also poised to pass bills to expand abortion protections and strengthen voting rights, using the last hour of the legislative session in 2022 To provide strongest response of a state in the face of a federal deadlock.
Faced with a possible Supreme Court ruling on Roe and Wade, Democratic legislative leaders are fully behind a package of bills aims to protect abortion providers from legal or professional backlash, among other things.
Lawmakers also passed new measures to combat voter suppression under the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act in New York, calling on the former congressman and civil rights leader to nod. the voting rights bill failed for passage in Parliament.
Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Democratic majority leader in the State Senate, described the legislation as “responsive,” saying lawmakers raised it “on occasion when the national climate changes or when the climate changes.” post-local change.”
The legislation comes as Republican-controlled legislatures, present in a majority of states, have moved to relax gun restrictions, ban abortion and erode voting rights. Last week, Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma sign the law bans nearly all abortion, the country’s strictest abortion law, while Republicans in Texas passed a law last year allows virtually all adults to carry handguns without a permit.
The liberal states have launched a counterattack: In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, is also urging lawmakers to raise the age to buy rifles to 21, while leaders California Democrats are moving to speed up gun control legislation in response to the shootings.
Indeed, in New York, other lawmakers were more outspoken about their desire to respond to the Republican-led states.
“It’s clear that at the federal level, they’re in a state of paralysis,” said Representative Linda B. Rosenthal, a Democrat from Manhattan who has funded abortion and gun safety bills. , speak. “But there’s still a lot of work to be done to make sure against any weird ideas that every other state might have.”
The Senate and Congress passed several bills earlier this week but continued to vote on Thursday, the last scheduled date of this year’s legislative session. Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has expressed support for many bills, is widely expected to sign into law.
The legislation is expected to pass the state with only Republican opposition in the minority, which is not a surprise for an overwhelmingly Democratic state that already has one of the few laws limiting best in guns and brought Roe v. Wade into state law. in 2019.
New York will now become the second state, after California, through legislation paving the way for the “micro-stamping” of case boxes with unique alphanumeric codes to track the bullet returning to the gun it fired. Some Republicans question the viability of the technology and say it is an unnecessary barrier to gun manufacturers.
The law that now makes it illegal to sell vests – except by police and other designees – comes after reports emerged of an 18-year-old gunman who killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket. was wearing armoran increasingly common feature in mass shootings, usually loose regulations.
New York – had ban military-style assault rifles – will also participate a handful of states raised the minimum age requirement to 21 from 18 for firearms purchases, the same age for handguns in New York. New buyers of such weapons will now have to obtain a permit – which includes going through a background check and safety course – before purchasing a semi-automatic rifle.
On the Senate floor, Daniel Stec, a Republican, argued that the bill “does nothing more than upset legal gun owners and do little” to combat gun violence.
Ms Hochul has called for lobbying for the legislation, but it could face legal challenges from the gun industry as well as the Supreme Court which is expected to rule this month. that can strike a law in New York drastically restricts a person’s ability to carry a weapon outside the home, a potential win for gun rights groups.
“Overall, I still think a real call to action by the federal government has to happen,” Carl Heastie, speaker for the Society, said in an interview. “We can do all these amazing things in New York that we’re trying to do, but we need federal support.”
The bills that strengthen New York’s position are one of the most democratic states domestic. But some discreetly argue that the focus on issues of national interest has overshadowed the conversation around concerns more focused on New York in the waning days of the founding session. France.
Indeed, many in the party’s left were frustrated that some leftist laws were not given priority, from strengthen protections against deportation to environmentally conscious legislation such as the one that allows the New York Electricity Authority to build publicly owned renewable energy projects, passed in the Senate but stalled in the assembly.
Also uncertain is the fate of a criminal justice reform bill that would seal most criminal records after previously incarcerated individuals have served their prison terms. The bill – known as the Clean Slate Act – passed the Senate, but was held in the guild.
Legislators are also bound to expire A much-controversial property tax incentive, known as 421-a, has spurred residential construction in New York City for decades, but has been decried by progressives as a treat. gifts for developers.
Mayor Eric Adams, who favors expanding the 421-a program, has started the year with a long list of priorities he wants to secure from state lawmakers, but will emerge with little a mixed bag.
Lawmakers on Thursday are expected to pass legislation extending New York City’s authority over its schools by two years, a shorter term than the four-year extension Mr. request. The expansion is tied to accompanying legislation that requires the city to reduce class sizes.
On Wednesday, the mayor attributed his opposition to some of his legislative programs to a small group of “professional protesters” who he said were “not part of Team New York.”
Other controversial legislative issues did not attract enough force as lawmakers prepared to leave Albany, including a bill that passed Congress but stalled in the Senate to impose a ban on two years for cryptocurrency mining at fossil fuel plants.
There has been a much broader consensus on abortion rights, as New York State leaders vowed to make the state the national leader on the issue following reports that the Supreme Court had is poised to overturn the landmark 1973 decision to make abortion legal nationwide. .
Lawmakers followed through on that pledge this week with bills that would strengthen New York’s existing laws and prepare the state for an influx of people seeking abortions from elsewhere.
A bill that would significantly limit law enforcement’s ability to cooperate in criminal or civil cases in states where abortion is restricted. Others aim to make sure doctors have access to malpractice insurance and aren’t hit with professional misconduct charges when serving patients from states where abortion is a crime.
Still others purposefully use the conversation around abortion rights to reinforce other freedoms are under attack. A measure passed both houses that protects the rights of individuals who come to New York to seek reproductive care as well as transgender or non-binary people seeking gender-affirming care. count.
One Amendment to the State Constitution that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of pregnancy outcome – or race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender expression – was introduced into the final week of the session, with lawmakers fighting struggle to balance civil liberties with religious freedom. On Thursday, a compromise has yet to emerge.
John Lewis Voting Rights Actwas passed by both the Senate and Congress, citing a similarly named bill in Congress that restored portions of the more recent 1965 Voting Rights Act. gutted by the Supreme Court. That bill passed the House in 2021, but failed twice in the Senate, where Democrats have a slim majority.
New York lawmakers aim to reinstate some protections, such as a rule requiring districts with a track record of discrimination to remove changes to their election process with the courts. court or the attorney general’s office. The bill would also require the translation of more election materials for non-English speakers and provide legal protections for voters in the event of obstruction or intimidation.
“Here again, in the face of federal inaction, New York is working to take the lead,” said State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, a Democrat from Brooklyn who sponsored the project. law, said.
