Bill Text: NY A08847 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Enacts the Protecting Religious Assembly in States of Emergency (PRAISE) Act; prohibits any governmental entity from discriminating against and closing a place of worship during an emergency.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-21 - held for consideration in governmental operations [A08847 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A08847-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8847

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 18, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. ANGELINO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Governmental Operations

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the civil rights law, in relation to prohibiting any
          governmental entity from discriminating against and closing a place of
          worship during an emergency

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Protecting
     2  Religious Assembly in States of Emergency (PRAISE) Act".
     3    §  2.  The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 79-r to
     4  read as follows:
     5    § 79-r. Protecting religious  assembly  in  states  of  emergency.  1.
     6  Protection  for places of worship. Any order, rule, regulation, or other
     7  directive, issued by any governmental entity pursuant to an emergency or
     8  health or safety determination, that requires closure or  limitation  of
     9  any  business  or  other facility otherwise open to public use or patro-
    10  nage, but which exempts in whole or in part any particular entity or set
    11  of entities, shall exempt to the same extent any place of worship  enti-
    12  tled  to  the religious exemption found in Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26
    13  of the United States Code, to the same extent as the exempt entity. This
    14  section shall be construed to afford to religious institutions and plac-
    15  es of worship the same degree of freedom to meet as is afforded  to  the
    16  most favored entity or set of entities.
    17    2.  Enforcement.  Any  person  or  entity  burdened  or  impaired by a
    18  violation of this section may bring a civil action  for  relief  against
    19  such burden or impairment in any court of competent jurisdiction. Relief
    20  may  include injunctive orders, compensatory damages, nominal damages, a
    21  declaration of a violation, and, where malice or recklessness is  demon-
    22  strated, punitive damages.
    23    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.


         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13854-01-3