NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6389
SPONSOR: Brook-Krasny TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to leave time for
certain employees to volunteer as a poll worker
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Establishes a system of paid leave for any public employee willing to
volunteer as a poll worker
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 Provides that every public officer, employee of this state,
employee of any county, employee of any community college, employee of
any public authority, employee of any public benefit corporation, or a
number of other public and/or school employees as defined within
Section 1 of the Bill is entitled to 8 hours of excused leave annually,
and that this leave will not be charged against any other leave to which
such employee is entitled.
Section 2 consists of the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Free and open elections are a cornerstone of a free system of govern-
ment, and election work should be considered a civic duty. This bill
would ensure that no public employee should be penalized by having to
use sick, vacation, or personal time to perform this civic duty. Local
Boards of Election are very often short-staffed, many desperately so,
and this provision would help to ensure that, among others, teachers,
police officers, firefighters, city, and state workers would have the
ability to freely volunteer their time to assist with maintaining order-
ly and honest elections.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Law
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Negligible
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate
STATE OF NEW YORK
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6389
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BROOK-KRASNY, NOVAKHOV -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to leave time for
certain employees to volunteer as a poll worker
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil service law is amended by adding a new section
2 159-e to read as follows:
3 § 159-e. Leave time for poll volunteers. 1. Every public officer and
4 every employee of the state, any county, any community college, any
5 public authority, any public benefit corporation, any board of cooper-
6 ative educational services (BOCES), any vocational education and exten-
7 sion board or a school district enumerated in section one of chapter
8 five hundred-sixty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven, any
9 municipality, any school district or a participating employer in the New
10 York state and local employees' retirement system, or a participating
11 employer in the New York state teachers' retirement system shall be
12 entitled to absent himself or herself and shall be deemed to have a paid
13 leave of absence from his or her duties or service for a sufficient
14 period of time, not to exceed eight hours annually, to volunteer as a
15 poll worker during a local, national, or primary election.
16 2. The entire period of the leave of absence granted pursuant to this
17 section shall be excused leave and shall not be charged against any
18 other leave to which such public officer or employee is otherwise enti-
19 tled.
20 3. The commission is hereby authorized and directed to establish any
21 necessary guidelines, including requirements for notice, request,
22 approval of leave and documentation.
23 4. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impede, infringe, dimin-
24 ish, or impair the rights of a public employee or employer under any
25 law, rule, regulation or collectively negotiated agreement, or the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10371-01-3
A. 6389 2
1 rights and benefits which accrue to employees through collective
2 bargaining agreements, or otherwise diminish the integrity of the exist-
3 ing collective bargaining agreement.
4 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
