Some victories

Some victories for animals and the environment in NYS legislature
by Linda DeStefano
Translated into Spanish by Rob English.

After years in which the NYS Senate typically failed to pass legislature to protect the environment, a change in the political makeup of the body resulted in several wins for environmental protection this legislative session. Perhaps the biggest win was passage of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. This establishes strong targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and prioritizes renewable energy. It also intends to provide green jobs, especially in disadvantaged communities (which have often suffered the greatest impact from climate change and from polluting businesses in their communities). This was the culmination of years of lobbying by NY Renews, a coalition of environmental and social justice organizations. It was a cliff hanger as to whether the NYS Assembly, the NYS Senate and Gov. Andrew Cuomo could negotiate a settlement for a final bill before the end of the legislative session. I was one of hundreds of people who traveled to Albany to fill the State Capitol with passionate people who demanded action (See attached photo of Stephanie Hitztaler and myself).

On the animal front, the League of Humane Voters of NY played a major role in passing the Anti-Declaw bill out of both the Senate and Assembly. As of this writing, Gov. Cuomo signed into law the ban on declawing of cats, it will prevent untold suffering of felines across the state by prohibiting declawing. This is the first time this legislation has made it to the Governor’s office! In prior years, it was held up in committee. New York is the first state to prohibit declawing.

Another bill which awaits Gov. Cuomo’s signature would require hospitals and nursing homes to provide vegan options for people upon request.

Code Red / Code Blue passed the Senate but did not move in the Assembly. This legislation would protect domestic animals from extreme weather conditions whenever there is a national weather alert. It would require the owner or guardian to remove their animal from these conditions.

The bill to prohibit wildlife killing contests was reported out of the Environmental Conservation Committee favorably. It’s now in the Codes Committee and will be picked up there in January when the legislature convenes. This was the first time in the history of this bill that it made its way out of the most vulnerable committee.

For information about additional bills and to be added to a list to stay informed, contact:

Jeffery Termini
Legislative Director
League of Humane Voters® of New York
(716) 380-7667
Jeffery@lohv-ny.org
www.lohv-ny.org
League of Humane Voters® of NY
New Paltz, New York 12561, USA

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Linda is President of People for Animal Rights. One of our activities is to keep our members informed about state and national bills regarding animals and the environment, and we were happy to share the alerts from the League of Humane Voters with our PAR e list. We also have public events (speakers, films, cooking demos), vegan socials and a physical newsletter. For a brochure about PAR and a sample of our newsletter, contact PAR, P.O. Box 15358, Syracuse 13215-0358, (315)488-PURR (7877) between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. or people4animalrightscny@gmail.com.