Loading chat...

NY A05859

Bill

Status

Introduced

2/24/2025

Primary Sponsor

Micah Lasher

Click for details

Origin

Assembly

2025-2026 General Assembly

AI Summary

  • Amends New York Executive Law to prohibit educational institutions from excluding students or applicants from programs, classes, or activities, or subjecting them to discrimination based on race, color, religion, disability, national origin, citizenship/immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, sex, age, marital status, or domestic violence victim status

  • Establishes that harassment is unlawful discrimination when it subjects individuals to inferior terms, conditions, or privileges of services, removing the requirement that harassment be "severe or pervasive" under prior legal standards

  • Holds educational institutions liable for harassment if they fail to act with reasonable care to prevent, promptly curtail, or remedy harassment, regardless of whether the victim filed a formal complaint

  • Requires colleges and universities to promulgate anti-harassment rules, establish reporting mechanisms, create response and investigation procedures, impose sufficient deterrent penalties, and clearly communicate these policies to students, applicants, faculty, and staff

  • Mandates colleges and universities take reasonable measures to prevent unaffiliated individuals who engage in harassment from being present on campus, at facilities, or at institutional events

Legislative Description

Enacts the "assuring college campus and educational safety and support (ACCESS) act" relating to harassment of students and applicants at educational institutions; describes the circumstances under which harassment at educational institutions is an unlawful discriminatory practice; describes the circumstances under which an educational institution is deemed to have permitted harassment; describes additional circumstances under which a college or university is deemed to have permitted harassment.

Last Action

referred to governmental operations

1/7/2026

Committee Referrals

Governmental Operations2/24/2025

Full Bill Text

No bill text available