S4621

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An act to amend the Correction Law — 2024-05-07 · Calendar #680

The New York State Senate passed legislation to amend the Correction Law, with a 50-10 vote on Calendar Number 680, Senate Print 4621, sponsored by Sen. Sepúlveda. The bill addresses mental health protections in solitary confinement by correcting what supporters say is an overly narrow definition of mental illness under the HALT Solitary Confinement Law. Sen. Salazar, voting in favor, cited peer-reviewed research showing that solitary confinement increases suicide and overdose risk for individuals with mental health conditions, with half of all prison and jail suicides occurring in solitary units. She argued the current definition excludes vulnerable populations from protective programs and that the bill could save lives. Ten senators voted against the measure: Borrello, Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Lanza, Ortt, Rhoads, Stec, Tedisco, and Weber.

Passed Senate Ayes: 50 · Nays: 10

Debate Summary

Sen. Salazar spoke in favor of the bill, citing research on the harmful mental health effects of solitary confinement, including increased suicide risk. She noted that individuals with mental health diagnoses are overrepresented in solitary housing units and argued the bill corrects a narrow definition of mental illness in the HALT Solitary Confinement Law that excludes vulnerable populations from protective programs.

Recorded Votes

Individual vote records shown here are captured from roll call mentions in floor transcripts. Because most bills pass with unanimous or near-unanimous ayes, only dissenting (nay) votes are typically read into the record — so the table below skews toward no votes. The full tally (ayes/nays above) reflects the official count.

Senator	Vote	Party
Borrello	nay	Republican
Gallivan	nay	Republican
Griffo	nay	Republican
Helming	nay	Republican
Lanza	nay	Republican
Ortt	nay	Republican
Rhoads	nay	Republican
Stec	nay	Republican
Tedisco	nay	Republican
Weber	nay	Republican

An act to amend the Correction Law — 2023-05-30 · Calendar #1090

The Senate passed legislation sponsored by Sen. Sepúlveda to amend the Correction Law on a 50-11 roll call vote. The bill, Calendar Number 1090 (S4621), takes effect 90 days after becoming law. Eleven senators voted in opposition: Borrello, Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, O'Mara, Ortt, Rhoads, Stec, Tedisco, Walczyk and Weber. No debate was recorded during floor consideration.

Passed Senate Ayes: 50 · Nays: 11

Debate Summary

No debate was recorded on this bill. The measure proceeded directly to a roll call vote.

Recorded Votes

Senator	Vote	Party
Borrello	nay	Republican
Gallivan	nay	Republican
Griffo	nay	Republican
Helming	nay	Republican
O'Mara	nay	Republican
Ortt	nay	Republican
Rhoads	nay	Republican
Stec	nay	Republican
Tedisco	nay	Republican
Walczyk	nay	Republican
Weber	nay	Republican