Advocacy

What you need to know:• State lawmakers return to Albany on Monday for a full week session, which is expected to be the last “regular” session week. • Members of the legislature will reconvene virtually in early August for a series of hearings on issues related to COVID-19. A list of specific issues is not yet available. • Big I NY opposes retroactive business interruption coverage mandates and “bad faith” lawsuit bills. We are monitoring underwriting restrictions based on dog breeds and COVID-19 Workers Compensation proposals. Here are the latest developments:Big I NY Launches Business Interruption Campaign:​This week, we rolled out a statewide grassroots campaign to oppose A.10226-B…

The NYS DMV has issued official guidance on the reopening of DMV offices.  As regions enter phase 3 of reopening, DMV will offer limited in-person transactions in state-run DMV offices by reservation only, prioritizing critical services, and will resume all other road tests at that time. Until then, there will be no in-person transactions in any DMV office and reservations will only become available as regions enter phase 3.  Individual county-run DMVs are advised to follow the state timeline, but this is a recommendation, not a mandate. As of June 1, state-run DMV offices in the counties of Albany, Onondaga, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and the five boroughs of…

What you need to know: The state legislature is anticipated to reconvene throughout the year, rather than adjourning in mid-June as is typical The legislature’s focus will be COVID-19, with many issues likely to affect IAs and policyholders We don’t yet know to what extent other issues will be considered. These are truly uncharted waters. Since mid-March, New York’s policy response to COVID-19 has been spearheaded by the state’s executive branch, through executive orders and emergency regulations. Until last week, the legislature was largely out of the picture.That changed on May 23rd, when Senate and Assembly leaders announced they would resume work virtually, beginning with…