S 7304: Requires state employees and the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, and members of the legislature attend annual implicit bias training provided by the legislative ethics commission.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7304 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE April 9, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law and the legislative law, in relation to requiring state employees attend annual implicit bias training and certain public officials attend annual management training The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 27-f to 2 read as follows: 3 § 27-f. Annual implicit bias training. 1. Definitions. For the 4 purposes of this section: 5 a. "Employer" means: (1) the state; (2) a political subdivision of the 6 state; (3) a public authority, a public benefit corporation, or any 7 other governmental agency or instrumentality thereof; (4) an authorized 8 agency as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision ten of section three 9 hundred seventy-one of the social services law that accepts children 10 adjudicated delinquent under article three of the family court act; and 11 (5) members of the legislature. 12 b. "Employee" means a public employee working for an employer. 13 c. "Implicit bias training" means a training program designed to help 14 individuals become aware of their implicit biases and equip them with 15 tools and strategies to act objectively, limiting the influence of their 16 implicit biases. 17 2. Employee information and training. Every employer shall conduct 18 implicit bias training to its employees. A copy of such training shall 19 be filed with the department. 20 § 2. Paragraphs i, k and l of subdivision 7 of section 80 of the 21 legislative law, paragraph i as amended by chapter 841 of the laws of 22 2022 and paragraphs k and l as amended by section 4 of part QQ of chap- 23 ter 56 of the laws of 2022, are amended and a new paragraph m is added 24 to read as follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05360-01-5 
 S. 7304 2 1 i. Upon written request from any person who is subject to the juris- 2 diction of the commission and the requirements of sections seventy- 3 three, seventy-three-a and seventy-four of the public officers law, and 4 section five-b of this chapter render formal advisory opinions on the 5 requirements of said provisions. A formal written opinion rendered by 6 the commission, until and unless amended or revoked, shall be binding on 7 the legislative ethics commission in any subsequent proceeding concern- 8 ing the person who requested the opinion and who acted in good faith, 9 unless material facts were omitted or misstated by the person in the 10 request for an opinion. Such opinion may also be relied upon by such 11 person, and may be introduced and shall be a defense in any criminal or 12 civil action. The commission on ethics and lobbying in government shall 13 not investigate an individual for potential violations of law based upon 14 conduct approved and covered in its entirety by such an opinion, except 15 that such opinion shall not prevent or preclude an investigation of and 16 report to the legislative ethics commission concerning the conduct of 17 the person who obtained it by the commission on ethics and lobbying in 18 government for violations of section seventy-three, seventy-three-a or 19 seventy-four of the public officers law and section [5-b] five-b of this 20 chapter to determine whether the person accurately and fully represented 21 to the legislative ethics commission the facts relevant to the formal 22 advisory opinion and whether the person's conduct conformed to those 23 factual representations. The commission on ethics and lobbying in 24 government shall be authorized and shall have jurisdiction to investi- 25 gate potential violations of the law arising from conduct outside of the 26 scope of the terms of the advisory opinion; [and] 27 k. Develop educational materials and training with regard to legisla- 28 tive ethics for members of the legislature and legislative employees 29 including an online ethics orientation course for newly-hired employees 30 and, as requested by the senate or the assembly, materials and training 31 in relation to a comprehensive ethics training program; [and] 32 l. Prepare an annual report to the governor and legislature summariz- 33 ing the activities of the commission during the previous year and recom- 34 mending any changes in the laws governing the conduct of persons subject 35 to the jurisdiction of the commission, or the rules, regulations and 36 procedures governing the commission's conduct. Such report shall 37 include: (i) a listing by assigned number of each complaint and report 38 received from the commission on ethics and lobbying in government which 39 alleged a possible violation within its jurisdiction, including the 40 current status of each complaint, and (ii) where a matter has been 41 resolved, the date and nature of the disposition and any sanction 42 imposed, subject to the confidentiality requirements of this section. 43 Such annual report shall not contain any information for which disclo- 44 sure is not permitted pursuant to subdivision twelve of this section[.]; 45 and 46 m. Provide mandatory annual management training for the governor, 47 lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, members of the state 48 legislature, and legislative employees which shall include, but not be 49 limited to, diversity training. Such program shall also be available to 50 any employees of such elected officials, executive employees, and any 51 other employee of the state. 52 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 53 ing the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, 54 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces- 55 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 56 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.