New York S 6343: Establishes the New York state democracy commission

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
S06343 Summary:

BILL NOS06343 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORSANDERS

&nbsp

COSPNSRKRUEGER

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

&nbsp

Establishes the New York state democracy commission to report on certain democracy issues and how to prevent attempts to illegitimately overturn a lawful election on a local, state and federal level.

Go to top S06343 Actions:

BILL NOS06343 

&nbsp

03/11/2025REFERRED TO FINANCE

01/07/2026REFERRED TO FINANCE

Go to topS06343 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS06343 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS06343 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 6343

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 March 11, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sens. SANDERS, KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed,
 and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance

 AN ACT to establish the New York state democracy commission; and provid-
 ing for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature finds and declares
 2 that the American democracy was under attack on January 6, 2021 in the
 3 United States Capitol by insurrectionists attempting to overturn the
 4 legal election of Joseph Biden for the United States presidency through
 5 violence, intimidation and by other means. There is legitimate concern
 6 that this attempt to overthrow our democracy will occur again at the
 7 federal, state and local levels.
 8 § 2. 1. A temporary state commission, to be known as the New York
 9 state democracy commission, hereinafter referred to as the commission,
 10 is hereby created to make recommendations and create a report of its
 11 findings relating to issues involving:
 12 a. the state of democracy in New York state;
 13 b. how to protect, strengthen and expand democracy in New York state
 14 on the state and local levels;
 15 c. how to expand voter registration and voter turnout;
 16 d. how to strengthen the integrity of the voting process;
 17 e. ways to improve civics education in schools; and
 18 f. how to prevent attempts to illegitimately overturn a lawful
 19 election on a local, state and federal level taking into account the
 20 events that led up to the January 6, 2021 insurrection in the United
 21 States Capitol and events thereafter to undermine American democracy.
 22 2. a. The commission shall consist of thirteen members, to be
 23 appointed as follows: six members shall be appointed by the governor;
 24 two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate;
 25 two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly; one

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD09814-01-5

 S. 6343 2

 1 member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; one
 2 member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly; and
 3 one member shall be the attorney general of New York state. The commis-
 4 sion shall be chaired by a member appointed by the governor.
 5 b. The members of the commission shall receive no compensation for
 6 their services but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses
 7 incurred in the performance of their duties under this act. The commis-
 8 sion may employ and at pleasure remove such personnel as it may deem
 9 necessary for the performance of its functions and fix their compen-
 10 sation within the amounts made available by appropriation therefor.
 11 3. The commission may request and shall receive from any agency in the
 12 state and from any subdivision, department, board, bureau, commission,
 13 office, agency or other instrumentality of the state or of any political
 14 subdivision thereof such facilities, assistance and data as it deems
 15 necessary or desirable for the proper execution of its powers and duties
 16 and to effectuate the purposes set forth in this act.
 17 4. The report shall include any recommendations for legislative action
 18 as it may deem necessary and appropriate and shall be delivered to the
 19 governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the
 20 assembly, and posted on the we