From plastic to social media, a session's worth of bills gets debated in Albany
Scores of bills will meet their fates as New York state lawmakers prepare to end their annual legislative session. A number of bills are being debated in Albany, including an expansion of the 1982 Bottle Bill that would allow consumers to redeem 10 cents per return. However, this proposal was later declared dead, one of the hundreds of proposed bills that have been debated. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, a bill aimed at reducing plastics by 30 percent over the next 12 years, also fared well. Two Gov. Kathy Hochul-backed bills, The Stop Addictive Feeds for Kids Act and The New York Child Protective Data Act, aim to address the mental health impacts of children under 18 on social media without parental consent and require the collection, use, sharing or sale of personal data of anyone under 18.
公開済み : 4週間前 沿って Robert Gavin の Environment
ALBANY – On Monday, Peter Baker came to Albany to join dozens of activists in a state Capitol staircase hollering for an expansion of the state’s 1982 Bottle Bill that would allow consumers to redeem 10 cents per return.
“This is too important of an issue just to not be a part of,” said Baker, who runs Can Bottle Return, a redemption center, in Hamburg.
Two days later, the proposal appeared dead, one of the scores of proposed bills to meet its fate as state lawmakers prepare to end their annual legislative session. It was scheduled to conclude Thursday, but could stretch into Friday and possibly Saturday.
While the future of the new Bottle Bill appeared bleak, at least for 2024, another bill, the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, an environmentalist-backed proposal to curtail the use of plastics to promote climate change, was faring better.
The bill would require businesses to reduce plastics by 30 percent over the next 12 years. Businesses would have to assume the cost of managing and recycling their packaging waste – and could face penalties for violations.
The bill had initially been aimed at a 50 percent reduction over the next 12 years. The lower number would still give New York the nation’s strongest crackdown on plastics.
Meanwhile, the future was optimistic for two Gov. Kathy Hochul-backed bills that would address the mental health impacts on children caused by social media algorithms.
One of the bills, The Stop Addictive Feeds for Kids Act, would prohibit young people under 18 from accessing so-called addictive feeds on social media without a parental consent.
The other bill, the New York Child Protective Data Act, would outlaw online sites from the collection, use, sharing or sale of personal data of anyone under 18 – unless it is necessary for the purpose of the website – and require users under 13 to get informed consent from a parent.
Lawmakers in both houses are believed to have reached an agreement on the measure, which is sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Gournardes, D-Brooklyn, and Assembly Member Nily Rozic, a Queens Democrat.
Given Hochul’s support for the bills, they appear to be as close to a done deal as there is in the final week of session.
トピック: Media, Social Media, Environment-ESG