BILL NUMBER: S103
SPONSOR: KRUEGER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to enacting the New
York religious freedom act
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill is the title.
Section two of the bill is comprised of legislative findings.
Section three of the bill adds a new Section 16 to the civil rights law
establishing the New York religious freedom act which prohibits disclo-
sure to federal government authorities of personally identifiable infor-
mation regarding religious beliefs for the purpose of compiling a regis-
try based on religious affiliation, national origin or ethnicity;
prohibits the use of resources for the creation implementation or
enforcement of any registry of information based upon religious belief;
and prohibits making personally identifiable information regarding reli-
gious belief to any entity creating such a registry.
Furthermore the act prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies
from collecting information on religious belief except in the course of
an investigation where there is a clear nexus between criminal activity
and the specific information, or where necessary to provide religious
accommodations; or using resources to assist in any requirement that
individuals register with the federal government based on religion,
national origin or ethnicity.
Section four establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In New York, we celebrate the rich cultural heritage and diversity of
our residents. Freedom of religion and protection from persecution are
founding ideals of our nation. New York must uphold the protection of
religious freedom enshrined in the United States Constitution for all of
its people, and the state has a moral obligation to protect its citizens
from religious persecution.
This legislation is necessary to ensure that New York agencies are
prepared to appropriately deny access to information to any entity
attempting to establish a registry based on religious belief. On January
27, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order relating to immi-
gration. In that order, the President imposed a 90-day ban prohibiting
all foreign nationals from seven countries from entering the U.S He
further suspended the entry of all refugees into the country for 120
days and indefinitely suspended permission for refugees from Syria to
come to the U.S. While the President asserted that this was "not a
Muslim ban," all seven of the countries affected by the Order are predo-
minately Muslim. President Trump has also indicated in public remarks
that he would take religion into account in determining who was eligible
to enter the country, and has expressed support for a Muslim registry.
There is nothing in current law that explicitly bars state or local
agencies or public employees acting under color of law from providing
data about personal information related to religious beliefs, national
origin, or ethnicity to the federal government for a religious registry.
This legislation seeks to prevent individuals from being targeted based
on their religious affiliation, national origin, or ethnicity by any
federal program that would compile a list, database, or registry based
on that information.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S.115 codes
2021-2022: S.832/ codes
2019-2020: S.1924/ codes - A.3273/Ortiz - Gov. Ops
2017-2018: S.4379/codes - A.10263/Ortiz - Gov. Ops
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.