Assembly Action Highlights
March 3-7, 2008

Dan Weiller, Press Secretary

Silver And Members Of Women's Caucus Unveil Nursing And Baby Changing Facilities
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and Legislative Women's Caucus Chair Assembly member Patricia Eddington held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Albany to unveil the installation of nursing and baby changing facilities throughout the Legislative Office Building (LOB).

"Each year thousands of advocates come to the L.O.B. and to the Capitol, to meet with their legislators and to experience the legislative process. These new nursing and baby-changing facilities will make the Legislature more user-friendly to the parents and the families who come here to participate in their government," said Silver, who along with Sen. Bruno agreed with the Women's Caucus that the availability of these facilities was long over due.

For ensuring that mothers and fathers have the appropriate space they need to better care for their children when working or visiting in the Legislative Office Building, Speaker Silver praised the work of Eddington and the other members of the bi-partisan caucus, including Assembly members Rhoda Jacobs, Helene Weinstein, RoAnn Destito, Crystal Peoples, Ellen Jaffee and Michelle Schimel. There will now be a public nursing and baby changing station on each floor of the LOB that is equipped with a comfortable lounge chair, a foot stool and a "boppy" pillow to provide additional support for the nursing mother.

Assembly Approves Legislation To Protect Seniors From Abuse
The Assembly approved a series of bills aimed at protecting elderly New Yorkers from violence, predatory lending practices and consumer fraud.

A key bill (A.9818); in the comprehensive, eight-bill package would crackdown on individuals who commit acts of violence against seniors by increasing the penalty for assaulting a person 65 years or older by someone more than 10 years younger from a class A misdemeanor to second-degree assault, a class D violent felony. The bill was delivered to the Senate.

The legislation also includes measures that would lower the threshold for bringing felony charges against criminals who defraud seniors by changing the law from defrauding ten persons to defrauding two vulnerable elderly persons, making it easier to charge those who scam the elderly; overhaul the state's power of attorney law to protect older New Yorkers from being taken advantage of by scammers who use their power of attorney status to gain control of assets owned by seniors; and require the superintendent of the State Police to develop educational materials and procedures relating to abuse of adults for use by the members of the Division of State Police.