Assembly BillIntroduced
A 2159: Increases the sentencing classification of misdemeanor hate crime offenses or of an attempt or conspiracy to commit a specified offense that is a misdemeanor to a class E felony.
What A 2159 does, verified January 8, 2026
The bill aims to increase the classification of misdemeanor hate crime offenses to a felony. When a person is convicted of a hate crime, their offense level will be one category higher than the specified offense they committed. If the specified offense is a misdemeanor, the hate crime will be deemed a class E felony, regardless of the defendant's conviction level for an attempt or conspiracy to commit the offense. The new classification will take effect 100 days after the bill becomes a law.
Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: referred to codes (2026-01-07)Alert me
Quick answers about A 2159
- What is the current status of A 2159?
- As of January 8, 2026, A 2159 is recorded as "Introduced": it has been introduced and is waiting for its first committee hearing or floor vote. The last recorded action, on January 7, 2026, was "referred to codes".
- Did A 2159 pass?
- Not yet. A 2159 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
- Who wrote A 2159, and where is it now?
- A 2159 was authored by Asm. Simcha Eichenstein with 1 coauthor. Its committee of record is Assembly Codes.
Author and sponsors
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| Jan. 07, 2026 | referred to codes |
| Jan. 15, 2025 | referred to codes |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, January 15, 2025 · 282 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2159 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 15, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. EICHENSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to increasing the classifica- tion of misdemeanor hate crime offenses to a felony The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 485.10 of the penal law, as added 2 by chapter 107 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows: 3 2. When a person is convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this article 4 and the specified offense is [a misdemeanor or] a class C, D or E felo- 5 ny, the hate crime shall be deemed to be one category higher than the 6 specified offense the defendant committed, or one category higher than 7 the offense level applicable to the defendant's conviction for an 8 attempt or conspiracy to commit a specified offense, whichever is appli- 9 cable. When a person is convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this arti- 10 cle and the specified offense is a misdemeanor or an attempt or conspir- 11 acy to commit a specified offense that is a misdemeanor, the hate crime 12 shall be deemed to be a class E felony. 13 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 14 it shall have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02278-01-5
Text of A 2159 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions