Senate BillIntroduced
S 5418: Authorizes localities to waive citizenship requirements for certain police and firefighters in their jurisdictions.
What S 5418 does, verified January 9, 2026
The bill aims to allow local governing bodies to waive citizenship requirements for police officers and firefighters. This waiver is contingent upon the candidate providing proof of an honorable discharge from the US military or its reserves. The waiver is granted regardless of any conflicting general, special, or local laws or administrative codes. The waiver is available to candidates for police officers and firefighters in cities, counties, towns, villages, and police and fire districts across the state. The bill takes effect immediately.
Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS (2026-01-07)Alert me
Quick answers about S 5418
- What is the current status of S 5418?
- As of January 9, 2026, S 5418 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 INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS".
- Did S 5418 pass?
- Not yet. S 5418 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
- Who wrote S 5418, and where is it now?
- S 5418 was authored by Sen. Andrew Lanza. Its committee of record is Senate Investigation & Government Operations.
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions2 total · showing 2
| Jan. 07, 2026 | REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS |
| Feb. 21, 2025 | REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, February 21, 2025 · 259 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5418 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 21, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern- ment Operations AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to authorizing the waiver of citizenship requirements for certain police and firefighters The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 3 of the public officers law is amended by adding a 2 new subdivision 1-b to read as follows: 3 1-b. Citizenship requirements of police and/or firefighters. Notwith- 4 standing any general, special or local law or administrative code to the 5 contrary, the local governing bodies of the several cities, counties, 6 towns, villages, police and fire districts of the state are hereby 7 authorized to waive any citizenship requirements from the qualifications 8 of police officers and/or firefighters upon the submission by the police 9 officer or firefighter candidate of proof of having received an honor- 10 able or general discharge from the United States army, navy, air force, 11 marines, coast guard, and/or reserves thereof, and/or the army national 12 guard, air national guard, New York guard and/or New York naval militia. 13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09506-01-5
Text of S 5418 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions