STATE OF OUR STATE

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

On June 21, the New York State legislative session drew to a close, ending one of the most active sessions in recent history. With a unique Democratic majority in the Senate — along with the Democratic Assembly majority and a Democratic Governor — state politicians rolled up their sleeves and got to work passing left-leaning legislation left and right. 

The New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops on public policy issues, hopped back and forth between support and opposition as lawmakers pumped out legislation that both aligned and conflicted with the Catholic Church. 

“The Democrats ran on a platform of changing the state and they’ve done that,” said Dennis Poust, communications director for the New York State Catholic Conference. “They were true to their word and they passed a ton of legislation; stuff that’s been bottled up for years. A lot of it we support and a lot of it we oppose.”

Below is an overview of the legislation that was — and wasn’t — passed, issues that were addressed, and a look forward at what’s to be expected as Albany prepares for the next session. 

Reproductive Health Act (RHA)
One of the first bills to pass at the start of the session was the controversial Reproductive Health Act, also known as the abortion expansion act. The bill was strongly opposed by the Catholic Conference and pro-life groups, but still passed in both houses on Jan. 22 and was signed into law later that day.

Poust said that despite single-party rule, the fundamental dysfunction of Albany’s government was strongly highlighted this session with how critical legislation was passed. 

“We’re still seeing dead-of-night deals. We’re still seeing really important consequential legislation pass without any public input whatsoever,” Poust said. “Like the RHA, there were no hearings to discuss the consequences of that.”

Since the bill’s passing, more than 20,000 New Yorkers have signed a petition to repeal the law. 

Physician-assisted suicide
Advocates for physician-assisted suicide gave a strong fight but were ultimately unable to get a vote on the bill in any committee in either house, even after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his support for the bill for the first time. 

The Catholic Conference called the move “an important pro-life victory” after spending the session working with groups, such as the New York Alliance Against Suicide, to highlight the dangers of assisted suicide. 

Still, Poust predicts that the fight isn’t over: “We know physician-assisted suicide is something that’s going to be with us for a while.”

“Advocates are still there, and as more of these things come off the table, the legislature is going to be looking for big-ticket items,” added Poust. “And so there’s always a concern that assisted suicide could be next.”

Commercial surrogacy
While close to passing, the bill legalizing commercial gestational surrogacy failed to gain support in the Assembly. After passing in the Senate, it appeared the bill would become law this session, but it failed to move forward.

The Catholic Conference, along with many feminist groups, strongly opposed the bill from the start, concerned that the legislation would exploit women — specifically economically poor women — while putting a price on children. 

In the end, Poust said that a majority of the Democratic women in the Assembly expressed concerns about the potential exploitation of women, which ultimately squashed the bill.

“It was a small group of women in the Assembly, but a powerful group,” said Poust. “We were fortunate they saw the same (concerns) we did.”

Child Victims Act
This powerful bill passed early in session and raised the age limit for seeking prosecution against one’s abuser from 23 to 55 in civil cases, and the criminal statute of limitations remains at age 28. 

The bill also allows for a one-year window during which victims can come forward, regardless of how long ago the abuse took place. The “window” period opens Aug. 14, 2019. 

The Conference had long opposed the bill on the grounds that it excluded survivors of abuse in public institutions. Once the bill included public institutions, the Conference removed opposition and supported its passing.

Heading into August, Poust said it is likely that “every diocese in the state is going to see a significant number of lawsuits, and every diocese in the state will experience severe financial challenges as a result of that.”

While the future is uncertain until after Aug. 14, Poust said that right now “the bishops are focused on survivors and journeying with them. They have the right litigation if that’s what they choose to do, and we just hope to be a part of the healing process.”

Looking forward, Poust said the Conference “hopes to become more involved in the next session in child-protection issues.” The Conference is striving to fight for state reimbursement to non-profits for criminal background checks, and the automatic revocation of professional licenses of anyone convicted of child sexual abuse, such as teachers. 

“We would like to be more involved in those types of child-protection efforts,” said Poust. “We’re perceived by the public … as being obstacles because of the Child Victims Act for years and because of the horrific crisis that we’ve seen. We need to change that.”

Legalizing Prostitution/Sex-Work
Late in session, a bill was introduced in both houses that would completely decriminalize sex work in the state. Despite a strong push from advocates, the bill stalled and no action was taken. 

Much like commercial surrogacy, the Conference found solidarity with many state feminist groups in opposing the bill. Both organizations expressed serious concerns over how the bill would dehumanize and exploit women, as well as legitimize the work of pimps and human traffickers. 

Poust added that the bill is another example of powerful legislation being pushed through without any input from the public. Key players, such as trafficking victims, law enforcement and landlords, were unable to contribute to how the bill could have impacted the community. 

“The same dysfunction remains, the same problems remain: Which is a lack of public input and backroom deals,” said Poust.

The Conference is expecting a fight from supporters in the 2020 session. Many supporters have promised to build momentum and make New York the first state to completely legalize prostitution.

Decriminalizing marijuana
New York State came out fighting for the legalization of recreational marijuana this session. At his annual State of the State speech, Gov. Cuomo called for New York to legalize the drug during this session. Ultimately, the measure was unable to pass. 

The Conference was happy with the decision, having expressed concerns that legalization could lead to teenage and childhood usage or addiction. However the state was able to pass legislation decriminalizing possession and expunging criminal records for low-level marijuana. The Conference has stated support for re-evaluating the status of criminal charges and penalties for low-level possession. The fight for full legalization is expected to continue in the coming 2020 session. 

DREAM Act, Farmworkers Act
Two pieces of legislation long supported by the Catholic Conference passed during the session. The DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, which enables undocumented children access to financial aid and attend college, passed early in the legislate session.

Later in the session, the legislature passed the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, also strongly supported by the Church and championed by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger and Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard. The bill guaranteed farmworkers the right to collectively bargain, access to workers compensation and unemployment insurance, a day of rest each week, housing that is up to sanitary code, and overtime after 60 hours of work.

“They passed some positive immigration (legislation) this year,” said Poust. “They passed the DREAM Act and they passed the Farmworkers bill — and largely immigrants are affected by that.”

As for next session, Poust said that “there will always be more issues where we have to protect the rights of immigrants. We can’t foresee them, but we know really well that there’s going to be immigration issues that come up under this administration that probably there’s going to be some kind of state response to.”

Vaccines
New York passed a bill on June 13, ending religious exemptions to vaccines in the state. The bill revised the current public health law to only allow children with medical issues to opt out of obtaining vaccines, eliminating the option to skip your shots on the grounds of religious practice. 

The bill was pushed out in hopes of preventing the spread of diseases, such as measles and chickenpox, after a large number of cases were seen in parts of southern New York. The spread of diseases has been tied to the “anti-vaxx” movement, a recent push by concerned parents and families to not vaccinate their children out of fear of their side-effects. 

The Catholic Conference did not take a position on the bill, but remained concerned about the consequences of restricting religious freedom. The Catholic Church has long been a supporter of vaccines, and has stated that getting vaccinated protects the health of the community. 

Substantial equivalency 
The Catholic Conference is working with the State Department of Education (SED) on securing a long-term solution to the on-going issue with substantial equivalency. 

Last year, the SED issued that each parochial school in the state would be subject to a review by their local school board. After each review, the board would be able to hold a vote on whether the school is “substantially equivalent” to a public education, and could potentially determine if a school was unfit for learning. 

The New York State Council of Catholic School Superintendents filed a lawsuit against the state saying the “guidelines” forced private schools to be subject to potentially biased reviews by competing schools. In April, New York State Supreme Court Judge Christina L. Ryba ruled in favor of the Catholic superintendents. 

Despite having the guidelines removed, the SED has introduced essentially the same rules in the form of regulations; the changes are currently in a public comment period. The Conference is working with Board of Regents on how to resolve this issue, while also looking at a long-term legislative solution.