New York A 5603: Relates to establishing an electoral voting system for electing the governor, lieutenant-governor, comptroller and attorney general

Bill Text

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A05603 Summary:

BILL NOA05603 

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SAME ASNo Same As

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SPONSORLucas

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COSPNSR

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MLTSPNSR

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Enacts the "New York State American Freedmen Task Force on Reparations Remedies Act"; acknowledges New York state's role in the fundamental injustice and inhumanity of the institution of slavery; establishes the New York State American Freedmen Task Force on Reparations Remedies; examines all aspects of slavery, subsequent de jure and de facto racial, social and economic discrimination against American freedmen and the impact of these forces on living American freedmen and to make determinations regarding compensation and repair; establishes a New York state freedmen's bureau charged with the distribution of reparations and reparative justice passed in legislation by the state; makes an appropriation therefor.

Go to top A05603 Actions:

BILL NOA05603 

&nbsp

02/18/2025referred to governmental operations

01/07/2026referred to governmental operations

Go to topA05603 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA05603 Floor&nbspVotes:

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

Go to topA05603 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 5603

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 February 18, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. LUCAS -- read once and referred to the Committee
 on Governmental Operations

 AN ACT to acknowledge New York state's role in the fundamental injustice
 and inhumanity of the institution of slavery; to establish the New
 York State American Freedmen Task Force on Reparations Remedies; to
 examine all aspects of slavery, subsequent de jure and de facto
 racial, social and economic discrimination against American Freedmen
 and the impact of these forces on living American Freedmen and to make
 determinations regarding compensation and repair; to establish a New
 York State Freedmen's Bureau charged with the distribution of repara-
 tions & reparative justice passed in legislature by the state; and
 making an appropriation therefor; and providing for the repeal of
 certain provisions upon expiration thereof

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

 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York
 2 State American Freedmen Task Force on Reparations Remedies Act".
 3 § 2. Legislative intent. The Legislature makes the following findings
 4 and declarations:
 5 (a) Approximately 450,000+ Africans were trafficked and enslaved in
 6 the United States and the colonies that became the United States from
 7 1619 to 1865, inclusive. At the peak of slavery their descendants
 8 numbered 4,000,000.
 9 (b) The institution of slavery was constitutionally and statutorily
 10 sanctioned by the United States from 1776 through 1865, inclusive.
 11 (c) The chattel slavery that flourished in the United States consti-
 12 tuted an immoral and inhumane deprivation of Africans' life, liberty,
 13 citizenship rights, and cultural heritage and denied them the fruits of
 14 their own labor.
 15 (d) A preponderance of scholarly, legal, and community evidentiary
 16 documentation, as well as popular culture markers, constitute the basis

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD08244-01-5

 A. 5603 2

 1 for inquiry into the ongoing effects of the institution of slavery and
 2 its legacy embodied in persistent systemic structures of discrimination
 3 on living descendants of persons enslaved in the United States, American
 4 Freedmen.
 5 (e) Contrary to what many people believe, slavery was not just a
 6 southern institution. Prior to the American Revolution, there were more
 7 enslaved Africans in New York City than in any other city except Charle-
 8 ston, South Carolina. During this period, slaves accounted for 20% of
 9 the population of New York and approximately 40% of colonial New York
 10 households owned slaves. In 1799 the New York State Legislature passed
 11 "An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery". This legislation was a
 12 first step in the direction of emancipation but did not have an immedi-
 13 ate effect on or affect all enslaved people. Rather, it provided for
 14 gradual manumission. All children