Aid-in-dying heads long list of bills Gov. Kathy Hochul must sign or veto by the end of the year

ALBANY — From medical-aid-in-dying to natural gas to anonymous child abuse reports to the little old horseshoe crab, Gov. Kathy Hochul has a long list of bills she must sign or veto before New Year’s Day.

The bills touch on broad issues such as gambling, paid work leave and prison oversight. They touch on the future, such as securing health data, as well as long-running issues from the past, like the recognition of the Montaukett Nation.

And they deal with the quirky: Requiring approval from a dead performer’s estate before using his or her likeness or image in movies, video games or other audio/visual work.

Hochul generally does not say in advance which bills she will sign.

Here’s a look at some of the major, controversial and unusual bills approved by the State Assembly and Senate and awaiting the governor’s action:

Dying

Officially titled "The Medical Aid in Dying Act," the bill would allow a "mentally competent, terminally ill adult," age 18 or older, who has a prognosis of six months or less to live, to request self-administered, life-ending medication from a physician. The measure also would provide certain protections and immunities for the prescribing health care providers, for example, for not resuscitating qualified patients who have self-administered the medication.

Proponents had been pushing for the measure for more than nine years when they finally broke through last spring, winning Senate and Assembly approval. New York would be the 12th state to approve such legislation.

Opponents, led by the New York State Catholic Conference, philosophically resist the sanctioning of what they call assisted suicide. Further, they contend the legislation has inadequate mental-health screening for would-be participants, doesn’t require safe storage of the medication, doesn’t require witnesses attesting to a person’s mental capacity to know the person at all and contains no waiting period between a terminal diagnosis and receiving life-ending medications — which they say makes the New York proposal the "most permissive" aid-in-dying bill in the country.

Supporters contend that none of the opponents’ fears — meds getting in the wrong hands, witnesses being paid to sign documents — have been exhibited in the states that already have such legislation.

'100 Foot Rule'

It’s called a rule but it’s a decades-old policy that forces utilities to connect natural gas lines to new homes or businesses if a transmission line is within 100 feet of the structure and the customer wants the hookup. If enacted, a homeowner could request a hookup but would be responsible for the cost.

Newsday previously reported that Hochul and legislators were closing in on an agreement whereby she would sign it, if a one-year delay in the start date is attached.

Prisons

A so-called "omnibus" reform bill would make a number of oversight changes in the wake of the beating death of an inmate in central New York. Multiple prison guards already have pleaded guilty in the case.

The bill would mandate 24-hour cameras in all areas of a facility, including blind spots; change the makeup of the state Correction Commission by adding legislative appointees; require video of footage related to an inmate’s death be provided to the state attorney general within 72 hours; and, among other things, extend the statute of limitations for an inmate to sue for injuries incurred while incarcerated.

The state correction agency has been pushing to alter some of the planks of the proposal before Hochul decides.

Anonymous child abuse reports

Backers say studies show that more than half of anonymous reports are false, often made as part of an ongoing contentious custody battle. They say the calls unfairly drag the family into various types of investigations.

They say mandated reporters — doctors, counselors, etc. — already have to provide identifying information when they make a report and say other states (Texas, California) that have outlawed anonymous calls haven’t compromised child safety.

The state long has allowed regular callers to remain anonymous, figuring that requiring identification would make tipsters reluctant to report suspected abuse.

Horseshoe crab

The State Legislature approved a bill that bans harvest of horseshoe crabs for use as bait or for biomedical purposes. It’s identical to one Hochul vetoed last year, saying management of the crab should be left to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Bill backers say conditions since have worsened for the crab and species it is linked to on the food chain.

Online casino sweepstakes

New York could be the latest state to ban online "casino sweepstakes" games that purport to be not about wagering money but in fact, according to officials, offer just that.

According to legislators, the sweepstakes operate this way: A "social gaming" site offers you virtual tokens, coins or the like for free that are said to be worthless and just for fun in a casino sweepstakes game. The catch: A player basically can exchange the freebies for something of value (money) to be wagered.

Legislators say these effecti vely are online casinos, which aren’t legal in New York, and that, for now, these operators are skirting the law.

 Securing health data

This bill would force electronic applications or websites that collect health data to receive affirmative consent from the user to retain the data and give the user an ability to delete information.

Backers said it is necessary in the wake of the bankruptcy of 23andMe, a DNA testing company, and the rollback of federal abortion rights. They say apps and websites could track and distribute information about, say, medical purchases related to pregnancy. Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) said in a news release that it’s nearly impossible to have an abortion now without leaving a digital trail.

Family leave 

This bill would offer paid family leave for those working in construction, demolition, excavation and similar occupations who aren’t covered by existing family leave laws — largely because they work by contract — and who might work for more than one company.

Montaukett Nation

Six times, Long Island legislators have successfully pushed their Assembly and Senate colleagues to approve this bill to reinstate the Montaukett’s state recognition status.

Six times it has been vetoed by a governor.

Last year, Hochul officially said the tribe hadn’t met the necessary requirements for state recognition. Montaukett leaders told Newsday the Hochul administration was concerned about potential land claims — a concern legislators called ridiculous.

The tribe contends its state recognition was improperly removed in a 1910 court decision by a judge who had no authority to do so.

Dead performers

Lawmakers previously enacted a "right to publicity" which required consent to use an image or likeness of a dead person for commercial uses. But now they say that law didn’t anticipate the newfangled and increasing use of "digital replicas" to effectively get around the law.

"Creating digital replicas was neither easy nor affordable to do back in 2020. Now, only 5 years later, anyone with a smartphone can produce and disseminate digital replicas," Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) said in a memo accompanying the bill.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy