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Politics & Government

Legislature Votes On Referrals For Smoking Ban, DNA Testing

The legislature held its meeting Tuesday night after the state of the county address

 

After Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef Tuesday night, the Rockland County Legislature carried on with its regular meeting, running through a number of different resolutions.

  • The legislature voted 13-4 in favor of passing a referral requesting that the New York State Legislature introduce home rule legislation authorizing an increase of one-fourth of one percent for each $100 of obligation secured by a mortgage on real property situated in Rockland County. The referral is simply asking for authority to do it in case it comes up at a later time, but the vote itself wasn’t on actually the increase. Some legislators who voted in favor of Tuesday’s referral said that if the actual increase came up for a vote, they might not vote for it.
  • Similarly, the legislators voted 13-4 in favor of requesting the New York State Legislature introduce home rule legislation permitting Rockland County to adopt a local law to impose, collect and retain a tax on real estate transfers of $2 for each $500 of consideration of real property transactions within the county. The same four legislators -- Joseph Meyers, Cris Carey, Frank Sparaco and Ed Day -- voted against both referrals. Meyers said he doesn’t think giving people a “kick on the tush on their way out” is the right way to go, as it will give Rockland a reputation for making it even harder to sell a home. With this referral as well, some legislators who voted in favor of the authorization said they would have to think about voting for the actual law.
  • The legislators voted 13-4 in favor of a referral requesting New York State Assembly pass a bill amending the public health law to prohibit smoking on the premises of public housing units.
  • The legislators unanimously voted in favor of passing a referral requesting enactment of home rule request by the state legislature and assembly on their respective bills to amend the general municipal law, as well as vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the regulation of the registration and licensing of taxicabs and livery vehicles in Rockland County. A few legislators said that without forcing taxis and livery vehicles to register, it’s like a game of Russian Roulette when using them.
  • The legislators also voted unanimously in favor of a referral requesting the state assembly pass a bill amending the executive law to require DNA testing of all people convicted of certain crimes. Day, who worked in law enforcement, said it would be a good idea because DNA testing today is the modern version of testing for fingerprints and can immensely help investigators. Legislator Ilan Schoenberger said it’s a good start, but he would like to see DNA testing for everyone arrested, like fingerprinting is done. He added that if the person arrested didn’t actually commit the crime, the tests could be given back.
  • The legislature approved appropriating $1,500 each to four veterans groups for patriotic observances: Kearsing-Edwards American Legion Post 1600 in Pomona, Korean War Veterans Rockland County Eagle Chapter in New City, American Legion Fred Eller Post 1447 in Monsey and Veterans of Foreign Wars of U.S. Clarkstown Memorial Post No. 851 in New City.
  • The legislature unanimously approved a resolution requesting NYS Legislature pass Senate and Assembly bills to amend the state’s Executive Law to require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant women in their employ. Pregnancy is a not a disability under the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act and employers are not required to make accommodations for pregnant employees unless the employee has a pregnancy-related disability.  

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