S3036

An act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules regarding gender-neutral language and character and fitness requirements for admission to practice law — 2025-05-21 · Calendar #988

NYS Legislature ↗ · OpenLeg API ↗

The New York State Senate passed legislation Wednesday that modifies character and fitness requirements for bar admission by prohibiting disclosure of law enforcement interactions that did not result in conviction, involved sealed convictions, or stemmed from juvenile proceedings. Senate Print 3036, sponsored by Sen. Hoylman-Sigal, also makes technical corrections to ensure gender-neutral language in the Civil Practice Law and Rules. The bill passed 35-24 on a roll call vote. Supporters, including the sponsor, argued the measure aligns state law with the Clean Slate statute and recommendations from the New York State Bar and City Bar. However, opponents, led by Sen. Palumbo, contended the bill removes necessary screening for applicants seeking to practice law and manage client escrow accounts. Palumbo warned that automatic sealing of convictions for serious crimes like theft and fraud could allow unsuitable candidates to practice law without demonstrating rehabilitation. The bill takes effect 60 days after becoming law.

Passed Senate Ayes: 35 · Nays: 24

Debate Summary

The bill makes technical corrections to ensure gender-neutrality in Civil Practice Law and Rules (changing "chairman" to "chairperson," "his" to "they/their") and substantively modifies bar admission character and fitness requirements by prohibiting disclosure questions about law enforcement interactions that did not result in conviction, resulted from juvenile proceedings, or involved sealed convictions. Sen. Hoylman-Sigal argued the bill aligns with New York State Human Rights Law and the Clean Slate law, following recommendations from the New York State Bar and City Bar. Sen. Palumbo opposed the measure, arguing that character and fitness screening is essential given lawyers' fiduciary responsibilities over client escrow accounts, and expressed concern that automatic sealing of convictions under Clean Slate removes necessary rehabilitation scrutiny.

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
Brad Hoylman-Sigal	AYE	Democrat	SD-47
Robert Jackson	AYE	Democrat	SD-31
Brian Kavanagh	AYE	Democrat	SD-27
Liz Krueger	AYE	Democrat	SD-28
John Liu	AYE	Democrat	SD-16
Rachel May	AYE	Democrat	SD-48
Shelley Mayer	AYE	Democrat	SD-37
Kevin S. Parker	AYE	Democrat	SD-21
Roxanne J. Persaud	AYE	Democrat	SD-19
Gustavo Rivera	AYE	Democrat	SD-33
Sean Ryan	AYE	Democrat	SD-61
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
Toby Ann Stavisky	AYE	Democrat	SD-11
Andrea Stewart-Cousins	AYE	Democrat	SD-35
Lea Webb	AYE	Democrat	SD-52
Jack M. Martins	EXC	Republican	SD-7
Zellnor Myrie	EXC	Democrat	SD-20
Jessica Ramos	EXC	Democrat	SD-13
Jake Ashby	NAY	Republican	SD-43
George Borrello	NAY	Republican	SD-57
Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick	NAY	Republican	SD-9
Stephen T. Chan	NAY	Republican	SD-17
Patrick M. Gallivan	NAY	Republican	SD-60
Joseph A. Griffo	NAY	Republican	SD-53
Pamela Helming	NAY	Republican	SD-54
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
Christopher Ryan	NAY	Democrat	SD-50
James Skoufis	NAY	Democrat	SD-42
Dan Stec	NAY	Republican	SD-45
James Tedisco	NAY	Republican	SD-44
Mark Walczyk	NAY	Republican	SD-49
William Weber	NAY	Republican	SD-38
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
C. Ryan	nay
Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick	nay	Republican
Chan	nay	Republican
Gallivan	nay	Republican
Griffo	nay	Republican
Helming	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
Skoufis	nay	Democrat
Stec	nay	Republican
Tedisco	nay	Republican
Walczyk	nay	Republican
Weber	nay	Republican
Weik	nay	Republican

An act to amend the Education Law — 2023-06-06 · Calendar #1469

NYS Legislature ↗ · OpenLeg API ↗

The Senate passed S3036, sponsored by Sen. Brouk, an act to amend the Education Law, on a roll call vote of 61-1. Sen. Walczyk cast the sole dissenting vote. The bill, which was Calendar Number 1469, includes a provision making it effective 12 months after it becomes law. No floor debate was recorded on the measure.

Passed Senate Ayes: 61 · Nays: 1

Debate Summary

No substantive debate was recorded in this transcript segment. The bill proceeded directly to a roll call vote following the reading of the final section.

Transcript Mentions

Senator	Vote	Party
Walczyk	nay	Republican