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S2498

Sponsored by Andrew Gounardes D

An act to amend the Education Law — 2026-05-06 · Calendar #742

NYS Legislature ↗ · OpenLeg API ↗
The Senate passed legislation amending the Education Law on a 42-20 vote, despite opposition from Sen. Rhoads and 19 other members who argued the bill would compromise student safety. S2498, sponsored by Sen. Gounardes, reduces the number of emergency drills required in schools. Sen. Rhoads, a volunteer firefighter, warned that cutting drills would leave students inadequately prepared for emergencies, arguing that training and drilling are essential for reflex-based responses in sudden crises. He stated that reducing drills "will only exacerbate the issue" of student preparedness. While acknowledging the bill's intent, Rhoads said he could not support the reduction in safety protocols. The measure is set to take effect July 1.
Passed Senate Ayes: 42 · Nays: 20

Debate Summary

Sen. Rhoads opposed the bill, arguing that reducing the number of emergency drills would leave students inadequately prepared for emergencies. He contended that training and drilling are critical to ensure students can respond reflexively in sudden emergencies, and that reducing drills would exacerbate existing preparedness issues. The bill passed despite his objections.

Transcript Mentions

These votes were extracted from the floor transcript by AI. NYS Senate roll calls are read in full, but AI extraction may not capture every senator — so this list is incomplete and skews toward named dissenting votes. Use the Official API Data table above for the complete roll call.

Senator Vote Party
Ashby nay Republican
Borrello nay Republican
Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick nay Republican
Chan nay Republican
Gallivan nay Republican
Griffo nay Republican
Lanza nay Republican
Martinez nay Democrat
Mattera nay Republican
Murray nay Republican
O'Mara nay Republican
Oberacker nay Republican
Ortt nay Republican
Palumbo nay Republican
Rhoads nay Republican
Rolison nay Republican
Stec nay Republican
Tedisco nay Republican
Walczyk nay Republican
Weik nay Republican

An act to amend the Education Law — 2025-06-06 · Calendar #937

NYS Legislature ↗ · OpenLeg API ↗
The Senate passed S2498, sponsored by Sen. Gounardes, an act to amend the Education Law, on a 35-18 vote. The bill, which takes effect July 1, received support from a majority of the chamber. Eighteen senators voted in opposition: Ashby, Borrello, Chan, Gallivan, Lanza, Martinez, Mattera, Murray, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rhoads, Rolison, Stec, Tedisco, Walczyk and Weik. No floor debate was recorded on the measure prior to the vote.
Passed Senate Ayes: 35 · Nays: 18

Debate Summary

No debate was recorded in this transcript segment. The bill proceeded directly to a roll call vote.

Roll Call — Official API Data

Full roll call from the Open Legislation API. Every senator's recorded vote is shown.

Senator Vote Party District
Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. AYE Democrat SD-15
Jamaal Bailey AYE Democrat SD-36
April Baskin AYE Democrat SD-63
Jabari Brisport AYE Democrat SD-25
Samra Brouk AYE Democrat SD-55
Siela Bynoe AYE Democrat SD-6
Cordell Cleare AYE Democrat SD-30
Leroy Comrie AYE Democrat SD-14
Jeremy Cooney AYE Democrat SD-56
Patricia Fahy AYE Democrat SD-46
Nathalia Fernandez AYE Democrat SD-34
Michael Gianaris AYE Democrat SD-12
Kristen Gonzalez AYE Democrat SD-59
Andrew Gounardes AYE Democrat SD-26
Pete Harckham AYE Democrat SD-40
Michelle Hinchey AYE Democrat SD-41
Brian Kavanagh AYE Democrat SD-27
Liz Krueger AYE Democrat SD-28
John Liu AYE Democrat SD-16
Jack M. Martins AYE Republican SD-7
Rachel May AYE Democrat SD-48
Shelley Mayer AYE Democrat SD-37
Kevin S. Parker AYE Democrat SD-21
Gustavo Rivera AYE Democrat SD-33
Christopher Ryan AYE Democrat SD-50
Julia Salazar AYE Democrat SD-18
James Sanders Jr. AYE Democrat SD-10
Jessica Scarcella-Spanton AYE Democrat SD-23
Luis R. Sepúlveda AYE Democrat SD-32
José M. Serrano AYE Democrat SD-29
James Skoufis AYE Democrat SD-42
Toby Ann Stavisky AYE Democrat SD-11
Andrea Stewart-Cousins AYE Democrat SD-35
Lea Webb AYE Democrat SD-52
William Weber AYE Republican SD-38
Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick EXC Republican SD-9
Joseph A. Griffo EXC Republican SD-53
Pamela Helming EXC Republican SD-54
Brad Hoylman-Sigal EXC Democrat SD-47
Robert Jackson EXC Democrat SD-31
Zellnor Myrie EXC Democrat SD-20
Roxanne J. Persaud EXC Democrat SD-19
Jessica Ramos EXC Democrat SD-13
Sean Ryan EXC Democrat SD-61
Sam Sutton EXC Democrat SD-22
Jake Ashby NAY Republican SD-43
George Borrello NAY Republican SD-57
Stephen T. Chan NAY Republican SD-17
Patrick M. Gallivan NAY Republican SD-60
Andrew J. Lanza NAY Republican SD-24
Monica Martinez NAY Democrat SD-4
Mario Mattera NAY Republican SD-2
Dean Murray NAY Republican SD-3
Thomas F. O'Mara NAY Republican SD-58
Peter Oberacker NAY Republican SD-51
Robert Ortt NAY Republican SD-62
Anthony H. Palumbo NAY Republican SD-1
Steve Rhoads NAY Republican SD-5
Robert Rolison NAY Republican SD-39
Dan Stec NAY Republican SD-45
James Tedisco NAY Republican SD-44
Mark Walczyk NAY Republican SD-49
Alexis Weik NAY Republican SD-8

Transcript Mentions

These votes were extracted from the floor transcript by AI. NYS Senate roll calls are read in full, but AI extraction may not capture every senator — so this list is incomplete and skews toward named dissenting votes. Use the Official API Data table above for the complete roll call.

Senator Vote Party
Ashby nay Republican
Borrello nay Republican
Chan nay Republican
Gallivan nay Republican
Lanza nay Republican
Martinez nay Democrat
Mattera nay Republican
Murray nay Republican
O'Mara nay Republican
Oberacker nay Republican
Ortt nay Republican
Palumbo nay Republican
Rhoads nay Republican
Rolison nay Republican
Stec nay Republican
Tedisco nay Republican
Walczyk nay Republican
Weik nay Republican