New York S 1377: Creates a legislative task force on outdoor environmental education and recreation

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 
S01377 Summary:

BILL NOS01377 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORSERRANO

&nbsp

COSPNSRCOONEY, HELMING, HINCHEY, JACKSON, MAY, ROLISON, WEBB

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

&nbsp

Creates a legislative task force on outdoor environmental education and recreation that will benefit residents of New York state by fostering stewardship and conservation of the environment, and an appreciation of the importance of the wise use of natural resources as well as acknowledgment of the health benefits of time spent in nature.

Go to top S01377 Actions:

BILL NOS01377 

&nbsp

01/09/2025REFERRED TO CULTURAL AFFAIRS, TOURISM, PARKS AND RECREATION

02/04/20251ST REPORT CAL.280

02/05/20252ND REPORT CAL.

02/10/2025ADVANCED TO THIRD READING 

03/11/2025PASSED SENATE

03/11/2025DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

03/11/2025referred to governmental operations

01/07/2026died in assembly

01/07/2026returned to senate

01/07/2026REFERRED TO CULTURAL AFFAIRS, TOURISM, PARKS AND RECREATION

02/04/20261ST REPORT CAL.270

02/05/20262ND REPORT CAL.

02/09/2026ADVANCED TO THIRD READING 

02/10/2026PASSED SENATE

02/10/2026DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

02/10/2026referred to governmental operations

Go to topS01377 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS01377 Floor&nbspVotes:

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

Go to topS01377 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 1377

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 January 9, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sens. SERRANO, COONEY, HINCHEY, JACKSON, MAY, ROLISON,
 WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be commit-
 ted to the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recre-
 ation

 AN ACT creating a legislative task force on outdoor environmental educa-
 tion and recreation that will benefit residents of New York state by
 stewardship and conservation of the environment, an appreciation of
 the importance of the wise use of natural resources as well as
 acknowledgment of the health benefits of time spent in nature

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

 1 Section 1. Legislative findings. (a) The legislature hereby finds that
 2 in the last two decades, childhood has moved indoors. The average Ameri-
 3 can child spends just four to seven minutes each day in unstructured
 4 outdoor play, and more than seven hours each day in front of an elec-
 5 tronic screen. The decline in the appreciation and prevalence of outdoor
 6 recreation opportunities profoundly impacts the wellness of our state's
 7 youth. The correlation between increasing childhood obesity rates and
 8 the decline in outdoor recreation is undeniable.
 9 (b) The legislature further finds that visual and physical access to
 10 basic types of open space is vital for everyone, and particularly valu-
 11 able to children growing up in "urban hardscapes", or areas where access
 12 to nature is limited.
 13 (c) The legislature further finds that the development of policies
 14 that foster stewardship of the environment, the importance of the wise
 15 use of natural resources and recognition of the health benefits of time
 16 spent in nature are essential to the residents of New York state. The
 17 legislature concludes that this can best be accomplished by the creation
 18 of a task force on outdoor environmental education and recreation.
 19 § 2. Objectives. A legislative task force on outdoor environmental
 20 education and recreation is hereby established to:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD03041-01-5

 S. 1377 2

 1 (a) Promote the development of a framework that will ensure that New
 2 York state has an aggressive outdoor environmental education and recre-
 3 ation plan for children that focuses on creating, developing and retain-
 4 ing opportunities for outdoor play and learning;
 5 (b) Identify and support programs which offer safe access to open
 6 spaces and summer camp to children from urban areas;
 7 (c) Promote the development of policy recommendations to ensure that
 8 New York's public and private sectors focus on creating opportunities
 9 for underserved and at-risk children to participate in outdoor play and
 10 educational experiences;
 11