NYC NOW - December 22, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

New York City's child welfare system is exacerbating racial disparities for Black families, according to the NYCLU. Meanwhile, on Thursday the New Jersey state assembly approved a bill that would require 8th-to-12th graders to get grief education. Finally, before year's end, Governor Kathy Hochul faces decisions on 90 pending bills, with 85 requiring action by Saturday. Key measures include proposals to ban non compete agreements and shift numerous local elections. WNYC's Janae Pierre sat with Albany reporter Jon Campbell for the latest.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Friday, December 22nd. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. New York City's child welfare system is exacerbating racial disparities for black families that new report finds WNYC's Michelle Bocanegra has more. For decades, black communities have claimed unfair scrutiny by the city's administration for children's services or ACS. But research out from the New York Civil Liberties Union finds they're overrepresented in suspected maltreatment and family court cases pursued by the agency, even accounting for

bias in the underlying reports of abuse or neglect. Zach Ahmed is Senior Policy Council for the group. What this data shows is that there are also disparities in how ACS treats the case once it comes into its hands. Nyklu says black families make most of the emergency removals of children from their homes without a court order. The Child Welfare Agency says black family's involvement in the system has been declining in recent years and it's working to combat bias. Grief education classes soon may become mandatory in New Jersey public schools as experts continue to warn of a decline in teens' mental health. Yesterday, the State Assembly approved a bill that would require eighth to 12th graders get instruction on how to cope with grief

and loss as part of their health and physical education. It would include lessons on the physical, emotional, behavioral symptoms of grief, as well as coping mechanisms for dealing with sadness. It's now up to Governor Phil Murphy to decide if the bill will become law. 33 and mostly sunny now. Mostly sunny today and 38 for Ohio. The real feel, though, as cold is 20, just above freezing tonight in the city, then tomorrow, partly sunny, warming up to the mid-40s, even warmer on Sunday,

and then on Christmas, a higher. For WNYC, I'm Jene Pierre. We all have a list of things to do before the end of the year. But for Governor Kathy Hokel, that list includes legislation that hasn't been approved or vetoed quite yet. Hokel still has 90 bills on her desk, including 85 that she has to decide on by the end of tomorrow. Tomorrow as in Saturday. Among them are measures that would ban non-compete agreements and move many local elections. For a look at some of the bigger pieces of legislation, Hockel still has to act on.

I talked with WNYC's Albany reporter John Campbell. Hey, John. Hi, Jenae. John, we're speaking on a Friday afternoon, and Hockel has just one day to act on all these bills. Is it normal for so many bills to pile up on a governor's desk this time of year, or is this just unique to Governor Hockel? Well, Jenae, it's really a holiday tradition in Albany, and it seems to happen every single year. this year, the state legislature passed nearly 900 bills from January through June, which is its regular session.

And Governor Hockel since then has kind of been working her way through them. Usually when it gets to this last batch of bills, we're talking about bills that maybe the governor's office has been negotiating with the legislature on, trying to make some sort of changes or tweaks. For some of these bills, it could be a sign that the governor might be inclined to veto them and perhaps at a time during the holidays when fewer people are paying attention, quite frankly. Right. People are still shopping for Christmas gifts. This news is just passing them by. You don't have much time left, though. Right. So let's talk about some of the bigger bills here. There's one that would ban non-compete agreements. What exactly are we talking about here? And is that a bill that the

governor is expected to sign? When we're talking about non-compete agreements, we're talking about these clauses in employment contracts that keep you from going to work for a competitor, maybe for a period of time after you leave a job. And this bill on Governor Hockel's desk would ban pretty much all of those non-compete agreements. So past employers wouldn't be able to restrict where you can work. Labor unions, they love this bill. They say it's good for workers. and as you might imagine, business organizations, Wall Street firms, they hate it. So the governor is in kind of a tough spot here.

She floated a potential compromise, maybe making the non-compete ban only apply to jobs with salaries less than $250,000. But the bill sponsors aren't really on board with that, and it remains to be seen if these compromise talks bear any fruit. One of the other bills before the governor is a measure that would move many local elections to even years. John, what's the thinking behind that? And I'm also wondering, you know, would that apply to New York City elections? Well, the second part of that, no, it would not apply to New York City elections. And that's because it's a state constitutional issue. The state constitution says that city level elections are in odd years. But this bill would apply to county.

level elections, town level elections, things like town supervisor, county executive, races like that. And that's a big deal in the New York City suburbs in Westchester County, Nassau County, Suffolk County. Democrats, they say this bill is about boosting turnout for local elections. If you align these races with presidential years, when more people vote, then more people are going to vote in these local elections. Republicans, they all say that's a farce. They say Democrats really only want these election in even years because New York always votes for the Democratic presidential candidate. And they're hoping that that kind of trickles down to these local races. And, you know, we should note, Governor Hockel, she has to decide on this. She's a

Democrat. And she hasn't tipped her hand yet on this bill. Okay. What are some of the other major bills Hockel has to decide on? And John, what are you going to be watching for particularly? Well, Jene, there's a whole bunch of bills out there. One that I'm going to be watching is the grieving families act. That is a bill. It would allow people to sue for grief and anguish if their family member dies because of somebody else's negligence in wrongful death cases. A similar version of that bill went before Hockel last year.

She vetoed it, but lawmakers made some tweaks, and they're hoping that those can appease her. Maybe she'll sign it this year. Another one I'm watching, the Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act. It would essentially make it easier for people. in prison to challenge their past convictions. As the law stands now, somebody who pleaded guilty maybe to get a lighter sentence, they can only challenge their conviction if new DNA evidence emerges. This would broaden it to other types of evidence.

And then there's even a bill that would require New York City to install recycling bins in every single park, every playground, every historical site, every recreational facility in the five boroughs. That's kind of an under the radar bill that I'm paying attention to. Okay. Yeah, nice. So, John, when can we expect Hockel to act on all these bills? I mean, the deadline is coming up fast.

Oh, it sure is. Yeah, the deadline for almost all of these bills is Saturday, tomorrow, as we speak here. But I've been calling around the lobbyists and people in the governor's office, and they expect her to sign and veto at least some of them today, maybe even as soon as this afternoon. Then there's this small handful of bills that she has until the end of the year to act on. That includes the Grieving Families Act, which we brought up earlier. And for those five bills, she could still even do a little bit of constitutional maneuvering and buy herself another 30 days.

Okay, to get past the holidays and everything. Yeah, absolutely. That's WMYC's Albany reporter, John Campbell. Thanks, John. Thanks, Jane. Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day,

for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.