•  Summary 
  •  
  •  Actions 
  •  
  •  Committee Votes 
  •  
  •  Floor Votes 
  •  
  •  Memo 
  •  
  •  Text 
  •  
  •  LFIN 
  •  
  •  Chamber Video/Transcript 

A01971 Summary:

BILL NOA01971
 
SAME ASSAME AS S02770
 
SPONSORCruz
 
COSPNSRSimon
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add 29-l, Exec L
 
Establishes tiers of essential employees during a state of emergency; designates categories of employees in each tier.
Go to top    

A01971 Actions:

BILL NOA01971
 
01/13/2021referred to governmental operations
01/05/2022referred to governmental operations
Go to top

A01971 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A1971
 
SPONSOR: Cruz
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing tiers of essential employees during a state of emergency   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: Ensures that first responders and essential workers have access to assistance, benefits and protections that help them continue working during a state of emergency.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1: Amends the executive law, defining tiers of essential workers during the declaration of an emergency as entitled to federal, state and local mandated assistance, benefits, and protections including but not limited to child care, job protections, medical supplies and/or personal protective equipment: Tier I Emergency Health and Safety responders, (a) healthcare personnel; (b) emergency medical services personnel; (c) law enforcement personnel; (d) firefighter personnel; (e) correctional services personnel; (f) centralized correctional operations personnel; (g) correctional, transitional and supervision services personnel; (h) public health personnel; (i) court personnel (j) National Guard (if activated) Tier II essential employees (a) educators; (b) childcare workers; (c) department of transportation employees; (d) state and local essential information technology personnel; (e) substance disorder treatment workers; (f) maintenance, janitorial, custodial and cleaning staff; (g) delivery workers; (h) water treatment/wastewater personnel; (i) day-to-day operations personnel for gas and electric; (j) emergency response for gas and electric personnel; (k) restaurant workers; (1) food distribution workers, including street vendors and food bank staff; (m) food distribution centers personnel; (n) in-store supermarket and grocery food personnel; (o) public works personnel; (p) solid waste management (waste, recyclable/organics); (q) infectious and hazardous waste management personnel; (r) commercial public sanitation personnel (s) shelter staff and homeless outreach workers; (t) telecommunication network operations personnel (u) bank personnel and community financial institutions (v) community violence interrupters Outlines enforcement and penalty if the assistance is not received. Outlines exporting every two years by the state division of homeland security and emergency services. 52. Sets effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: When a state of emergency was declared because of the international COVID-19 outbreak, quarantine and isolation practices revealed an increased dependency on labor not traditionally seen as first respon- ders. Limited childcare and lack of proper safety supplies have been obstacles for workers that New Yorkers rely on to continue working during a time of crisis. The necessity of educators, child care workers, transit employees, information technology personnel, correctional employees, substance disorder treatment workers, in-store food person- nel, delivery workers, street vendors, janitorial, custodial and clean- ing staff in addition to first responders in times of emergency is apparent to keep New York functioning. By codifying such workers as essential, the state formally recognizes workers' contribution to socie- ty affirming rights to services, benefits and protections to help main- tain their positions.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New Bill   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: None   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
Go to top

A01971 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          1971
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 13, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M. of A. CRUZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Governmental Operations
 
        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing tiers  of
          essential employees during a state of emergency
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new  section  29-l
     2  to read as follows:
     3    §  29-l.  Tiers  of  essential workers. During periods when a federal,
     4  state, or local state  of  emergency  has  been  declared,  the  persons
     5  employed in the following positions and fields, including any for-profit
     6  or  non-profit,  shall  be  deemed  essential personnel in the following
     7  manner and shall be  entitled  to  federal,  state  and  local  mandated
     8  assistance,  benefits and protections that maintain such employees posi-
     9  tions including, but not limited to, child care,  job  protection  where
    10  workers cannot be fired when not attending work due to the lack of safe-
    11  ty  precautions provided or other circumstances related to the emergency
    12  declaration, medical supplies and/or personal protective equipment:
    13    1. Tier I. Emergency health and safety responders, including:
    14    (a) health care personnel needed for direct care, research and labora-
    15  tory services and critical administrative staff of the personnel  needed
    16  for direct care, including:
    17    (i)  full-time  and part-time long-term facility personnel, including,
    18  but not limited to, personnel working  in  group  homes  and  supportive
    19  housing  settings,  residential  homes,  nursing  homes, and residential
    20  mental health, substance use disorder, pediatric and adolescent residen-
    21  tial treatment facilities;
    22    (ii) full-time and part-time post-acute care personnel, including, but
    23  not limited to, personnel working  in  long-term  hospitals,  in-patient
    24  rehabilitation, home health care, and skilled nurses;
    25    (iii) home health and personal care attendants;
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06214-01-1

        A. 1971                             2
 
     1    (iv)  personnel working in adult, adolescent and pediatric residential
     2  mental health, behavioral health or  substance  use  disorder  treatment
     3  facilities,  intensive  residential  treatment services, emergency shel-
     4  ters, health care for  the  homeless  providers,  and  homeless  drop-in
     5  centers;
     6    (v)   county  and  tribal  financial/eligibility  workers  for  public
     7  programs;
     8    (vi) state, tribal and county staff in emergency management or  health
     9  and human services, including case managers and direct service delivery;
    10    (vii) personnel working in county and tribal child welfare;
    11    (viii)  pharmacy, drug store and medical distribution employees neces-
    12  sary for  filling  prescriptions,  cultivating  and  processing  medical
    13  supplies;
    14    (b) full-time emergency medical services personnel, including:
    15    (i) paramedics;
    16    (ii) emergency medical technicians;
    17    (iii) immediate supervisory staff;
    18    (iv) emergency medical services operators and dispatchers;
    19    (v)  emergency  medical services region medical directors necessary to
    20  make override decisions to direct ambulances to  other  emergency  rooms
    21  based on medical needs;
    22    (vi) medical examiners;
    23    (c) law enforcement personnel, including:
    24    (i)  full-time police officers, auxillary police and their supervisory
    25  staff;
    26    (ii) full-time sheriffs and their supervisory staff;
    27    (iii) full-time department of environmental conservation  sworn  offi-
    28  cers and their supervisory staff;
    29    (iv) full-time state police officers and their supervisory staff;
    30    (v) 911 operators and dispatchers and their supervisory staff;
    31    (vi) full-time investigators, at the discretion of their agency chief;
    32    (d) firefighter personnel, including:
    33    (i) full-time firefighters;
    34    (ii) paid on call duty crew;
    35    (e) correctional services personnel, including:
    36    (i) corrections officers;
    37    (ii) correctional lieutenants;
    38    (iii) correctional captains;
    39    (iv) correctional sergeants;
    40    (v) physical plant personnel;
    41    (vi) correctional facility case managers;
    42    (vii)  correctional facility educators and educational paraprofession-
    43  als;
    44    (viii) wardens;
    45    (ix) associate wardens;
    46    (x) correctional facility office assistants;
    47    (xi) correctional facility nurses and supervisors;
    48    (xii) correctional program therapists;
    49    (xiii) correctional facility personnel;
    50    (xiv) informational technology staff;
    51    (xv) correctional facility human resources staff;
    52    (xvi) correctional facility financial services personnel;
    53    (xvii) correctional facility records personnel;
    54    (xviii) correctional facility safety officers;
    55    (f) centralized correctional operations personnel, including:
    56    (i) medical directors;

        A. 1971                             3
 
     1    (ii) directors of health services;
     2    (iii) reentry services personnel;
     3    (iv) policy and legal services personnel;
     4    (v) offender transportation personnel;
     5    (vi) centralized records personnel;
     6    (vii) centralized human resources personnel;
     7    (viii)  investigators,  including  special  investigations and profes-
     8  sional accountability;
     9    (ix) personnel assigned to the disaster preparedness commission;
    10    (x) government and community relations personnel;
    11    (xi) hearings and release personnel;
    12    (xii) behavioral health personnel;
    13    (xiii) communications personnel;
    14    (xiv) personnel in the office of the commissioner of  corrections  and
    15  community supervision;
    16    (g)  correctional,  transitional  and  supervision services personnel,
    17  including:
    18    (i) state probation officers and supervisors;
    19    (ii) state probation agents and supervisors;
    20    (iii) state supervised release agents and supervisors;
    21    (iv) county probation officers and supervisors;
    22    (v) county probation agents and supervisors;
    23    (vi) county supervised release agents and supervisors;
    24    (h) public health personnel, including:
    25    (i) state, tribal and local public health employees directly  support-
    26  ing  the  response  of  a state of emergency or other infectious disease
    27  operations;
    28    (ii) state, tribal and local public  health  officials  responding  to
    29  imminent public health threats;
    30    (iii) newborn health screeners;
    31    (iv) state, tribal and local public health lab priority services;
    32    (v)  state,  city,  county  and  tribal emergency management essential
    33  personnel;
    34    (i) court personnel and contractors, including, but  not  limited  to,
    35  full-time court personnel, court officers, interpreters and clerks;
    36    (j) national guard members (if activated).
    37    2. Tier II. Essential employees, including:
    38    (a) educators;
    39    (b) child care workers, including foster care staff;
    40    (c) department of transportation employees;
    41    (d) state and local essential information technology personnel;
    42    (e) substance disorder treatment workers;
    43    (f) maintenance, janitorial, custodial and cleaning staff;
    44    (g) delivery and warehouse workers;
    45    (h) water treatment/wastewater personnel, including:
    46    (i) water treatment plant operators;
    47    (ii) drinking water distribution system maintenance workers;
    48    (iii) safe drinking water delivery personnel;
    49    (iv) wastewater treatment plant operators;
    50    (v) storm and sanitary sewer system maintenance workers;
    51    (i)  day-to-day  operations  personnel  for  gas and electric critical
    52  infrastructure, including:
    53    (i) electric utility lineworkers, substation technicians, meter  tech-
    54  nicians,  dispatchers,  power  plant operators including those at energy
    55  storage and electric vehicle infrastructure;

        A. 1971                             4
 
     1    (ii) operations managers and  supervisors,  including  those  ensuring
     2  safe and reliable service to customers;
     3    (iii) fleet and maintenance technicians;
     4    (iv)  transmission  and distribution engineers and operators including
     5  those for maintenance, resilience, reliability and demand response;
     6    (v) fuel supply providers and pipeline infrastructure operators;
     7    (vi) construction coordinators and technicians;
     8    (vii) fuel technicians;
     9    (viii) relay coordinators;
    10    (ix) control room/center operators;
    11    (x) cybersecurity related information technology personnel;
    12    (xi) gas safety personnel;
    13    (xii) gas operations personnel;
    14    (xiii) water system operators, water treatment plant operators;
    15    (xiv) wastewater system operators and wastewater treatment plant oper-
    16  ators;
    17    (xv) managers with  key  responsibility  for  customer  and  community
    18  communications and response;
    19    (j) emergency response for gas and electric personnel, including:
    20    (i) damage assessment personnel;
    21    (ii) engineers;
    22    (iii) safety personnel;
    23    (iv) communications personnel;
    24    (v) mutual aid crews from other utilities or facilities;
    25    (k) restaurant workers, including:
    26    (i) management;
    27    (ii) front of house staff;
    28    (iii) back of house staff;
    29    (iv) food delivery workers, including app delivery workers;
    30    (l)  food distribution workers, including street vendors and food bank
    31  staff;
    32    (m) food distribution centers personnel, including:
    33    (i) drivers;
    34    (ii) order selectors;
    35    (iii) forklift loaders;
    36    (iv) information technology personnel;
    37    (v) mechanics;
    38    (vi) sanitation workers;
    39    (n) in-store supermarket and grocery food personnel, including:
    40    (i) store clerks;
    41    (ii) stockers;
    42    (iii) food preparation personnel;
    43    (iv) cleaning staff;
    44    (v) deli and produce staff;
    45    (o) public works personnel, including:
    46    (i) city fleet (emergency equipment,  fire  trucks,  police  vehicles,
    47  etc.)  maintenance workers;
    48    (ii) traffic signal system maintenance workers;
    49    (iii)  emergency  repair  workers  for  bridges,  water and sewer main
    50  breaks, and other emergent issues;
    51    (iv) administrative support personnel that ensure federal OSHA  safety
    52  requirements and field support for operations;
    53    (v) snowplow drivers;
    54    (p)  solid  waste  management  (waste, recyclable/organics) personnel,
    55  including:

        A. 1971                             5
 
     1    (i) collection, transfer trailer truck drivers and  fleet  maintenance
     2  crews;
     3    (ii)  transfer  stations,  landfills, resource recovery, recycling and
     4  organics facility operations staff;
     5    (iii) heavy equipment operators, facility operators (e.g. scale  house
     6  operator, loader operator, line operators, boiler operator);
     7    (iv)  environmental  systems  personnel (e.g. gas and leachate manage-
     8  ment, pollution control equipment);
     9    (q) infectious and hazardous waste management personnel, including:
    10    (i) infectious and hazardous waste collection personnel;
    11    (ii) infectious facilities operations personnel  (e.g.  autoclave  and
    12  incineration operators);
    13    (iii)  hazardous  waste  treatment,  storage,  and disposal facilities
    14  operations personnel;
    15    (r) commercial public sanitation personnel;
    16    (s) shelter staff and homeless outreach workers, including:
    17    (i) shelter drop-in staff;
    18    (ii) shelter and free meal program food preparation staff;
    19    (iii) domestic violence and victims services shelter staff;
    20    (t) telecommunication network operations personnel, including:
    21    (i) outside plant technicians for infrastructure restoration;
    22    (ii) install/repair technicians for customer  premise  restoration  as
    23  needed;
    24    (iii)  customer  service representatives that interface with customers
    25  on service troubles;
    26    (iv) dispatchers involved with service repair and restoration;
    27    (u) bank personnel and community financial institutions;
    28    (v) community violence interrupters, including:
    29    (i) gang violence prevention staff;
    30    (ii) trauma informed personnel.
    31    3. Enforcement. (a) All federal,  state  and  local  essential  worker
    32  mandated  assistance  required  pursuant to this section, including, but
    33  not limited to, child care, job  protections,  medical  supplies  and/or
    34  personal  protective  equipment  must be made available to the essential
    35  worker within seven calendar days of the declaration of a state of emer-
    36  gency.
    37    (b) An essential worker,  who  within  seven  calendar  days  has  not
    38  received  the  benefits  required under the law, may obtain an action in
    39  any court of competent jurisdiction for:
    40    (i) declaratory relief directing  the  state  agency  to  provide  the
    41  required services; and
    42    (ii)  a  civil penalty in an amount not to exceed five hundred dollars
    43  per day of violation.
    44    4. Reporting. (a) Every two years the state division of homeland secu-
    45  rity and emergency services shall present the governor and the  legisla-
    46  ture  with  a  detailed report describing at a minimum affirmative steps
    47  taken by the executive and state agencies to comply with this  law,  the
    48  number  of  tier  I  and  tier  II workers in the state of New York, and
    49  recommendations on types of essential workers that should  be  added  or
    50  removed from the existing tier I and tier II lists.
    51    (b)  The  legislature  shall  review  the report provided by the state
    52  division of homeland security and emergency services and seek  to  amend
    53  any  relevant  section  of  this section to ensure essential workers are
    54  added and/or removed from the  existing  list,  as  well  as  any  other
    55  provision that would strengthen the purpose of this section.
    56    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Go to top