New York A 6352: Relates to racial and ethnic impact statements on bills

Bill Text

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A06352 Summary:

BILL NOA06352 

&nbsp

SAME ASSAME AS S03992

&nbsp

SPONSORWalker

&nbsp

COSPNSRRivera, Epstein, Simon

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add §§52-a, 52-b & 52-c, Leg L

&nbsp

Relates to racial and ethnic impact statements on bills.

Go to top A06352 Actions:

BILL NOA06352 

&nbsp

03/04/2025referred to governmental operations

01/07/2026referred to governmental operations

Go to topA06352 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA06352 Floor&nbspVotes:

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

Go to topA06352 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 6352

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 March 4, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. WALKER, RIVERA, EPSTEIN, SIMON -- read once and
 referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations

 AN ACT to amend the legislative law, in relation to racial and ethnic
 impact statements on bills

 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 "racial and
 2 ethnic equity act".
 3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that
 4 minorities are historically overrepresented in the New York correctional
 5 population and that adverse racial disparities occur at every stage of
 6 the criminal justice system. Black people are dramatically overrepre-
 7 sented in New York's correctional population. In 2015, they accounted
 8 for only 17.6 percent of the state's total population. Yet, as of Janu-
 9 ary 2016, black people made up 49 percent of the total offender popu-
 10 lation under custody. Latinos are also overrepresented in the correc-
 11 tional population. In 2015, they accounted for 18.8 percent of the state
 12 population and, in 2016, just under a quarter of the offender population
 13 under custody. While the state of New York has effectively reduced the
 14 total prison population through the adoption of alternative to incarcer-
 15 ation programs and other forms of diversion, the racially disparate
 16 correctional population remains an indefatigable aspect of the justice
 17 system. The role of New York State Permanent Commission on Sentencing is
 18 to evaluate sentencing laws and practices and recommend reforms that
 19 will improve the quality and effectiveness of statewide sentencing poli-
 20 cy; however, this entity does not evaluate the role of sentencing stat-
 21 utes on racial and ethnic minorities.
 22 In New York State, black children are overrepresented at each stage of
 23 the child welfare process. Additionally, Black, Hispanic and Native
 24 American children have higher rates of involvement in each stage of the
 25 child welfare system than white children.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD05271-01-5

 A. 6352 2

 1 A plausible cause of the continued racial disparities is the enactment
 2 of criminal justice, public benefits, and social welfare legislation
 3 without review of the potential impacts on minority populations. Race-
 4 neutral legislation can have adverse disparate effects on minority
 5 groups in practice. New York State can remedy this through requiring
 6 racial ethnic impact statements for all legislation that will potential-
 7 ly increase the correctional population, create a new offense, change
 8 the penalty for an existing offense, change the existing sentencing,
 9 parole or probation procedures, increase the child welfare population,
 10 and change social service laws as they relate to access to public
 11 assistance.
 12 § 3. The legislative law is amended by adding three new sections 52-a,
 13 52-b and 52-c to read as follows:
 14 § 52-a. Racial and ethnic impact statements on qualifying bills. 1.
 15 As used in this section:
 16 (a) The term "affected population" shall mean the correctional popu-
 17 lation, the public assistance population, or the child welfare popu-
 18 lation.
 19 (b) The term "correctional population" shall mean the population of
 20 persons incarcerated in, but not limited to, prison, jail, or facilities
 21 operated by the office of children and family services, and persons
 22 supervised in the community including, but not limited to, pers