PIANY’s top legislative priority for the 2023 legislative year is passage of legislation that would make important reforms to New York state’s outdated photo inspection law (S.5889). That legislation got a giant step closer to becoming a law as S.5889 passed the New York state Senate this afternoon. The same legislation previously passed the state Assembly in March.
The bill’s passage in the Senate comes mere days after it was reported out of the Senate Insurance Committee. Typically, after a bill is reported out of committee it must age before it can be voted on by the full chamber.
This bill, sponsored by Sen. Neil Breslin, D-44, would allow insurance companies to file a waiver with the New York State Department of Financial Services to allow them to waive photo inspections for all or some of the personal automobiles they insure.
PIANY strongly supported the passage of S.5889. The association would like to thank all the PIA members who participated in PIANY’s grassroots campaign to build support for this important issue. PIANY would like to extend a big thank you as well to Sen. Breslin for his continues leadership on this issue.
Photo inspection reform now has passed both the state Assembly and Senate! The bill will next go to Gov. Kathy Hochul for her consideration. While the governor vetoed photo inspection legislation last session, the legislation that passed the Senate today mirrors exactly language the governor included in her budget proposal. As such, it is expected that the governor will support this measure.
Learn more about photo inspection reform here.
Get involved
If you want to get involved with PIANY’s legislative and advocacy work, there are many ways to engage with the association:
- participate in PIANY’s District Office Visit Program;
- become a member of Agents Advocacy Coalition; and
- watch your PIA Northeast publications and PIA Northeast’s social-media channels for important New York updates, and share them with your followers.
Bradford J. Lachut, Esq.
Bradford J. Lachut, Esq., joined PIA as government affairs counsel for the Government & Industry Affairs Department in 2012 and then, after a four-month leave, he returned to the association in 2018 as director of government & industry affairs responsible for all legal, government relations and insurance industry liaison programs for the five state associations. Prior to PIA, Brad worked as an attorney for Steven J. Baum PC, in Amherst, and as an associate attorney for the law office of James Morris in Buffalo. He also spent time serving as senior manager of government affairs as the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, a chamber of commerce serving the Buffalo, N.Y., region, his hometown. He received his juris doctorate from Buffalo Law School and his Bachelor of Science degree in Government and Politics from Utica College, Utica, N.Y. Brad is an active Mason and Shriner.
