What's happening
The bill removes the requirement that unsolicited advertising appear at two or more premises to trigger liability for violations.
Why it matters
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Who cares
Headline styles
Hold Advertisers Accountable
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to cities
- Referred to cities
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Hold Advertisers Accountable for Junk Mail
In Assembly Committee · Cities · Sponsor Nily Rozic
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3619
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 11, 2019
Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to the rebuttable presumption relating to identifying information on an unsolicited advertisement in cities with a population of one million or more
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 397-a of the general business law, as amended by chapter 3 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
3. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that the person whose name, telephone number, or other identifying information appears on any unsolicited advertising materials described in subdivision one of this section [and placed at two or more premises] shall be liable for any violations of this section.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01004-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to the rebuttable presumption relating to identifying information on an unsolicited advertisement in cities with a population of one million or more
Purpose
The purpose of this legislation is to amend the "lawn litter law" rebuttable presumption provisions which require that advertising materi- als be placed at "two or more premises".
Summary of provisions
Section I of the bill amends subdivision 3 or section 397-a of the general business law, as amended by chapter .3 of the laws of 2008, to repeal certain provisions of the "rebuttable presumption" section that require advertising materials to be placed at "two or more premises" for the presumption to be applicable.
Section II of the bill sets forth the effective date.
Justification
Under the current "lawn litter law", a rebuttable presumption of liabil- ity is imposed on those persons whose name, telephone number or other identifying information appears on any unsolicited advertising materials that have been placed at two or more premises.
The New York City Department of Sanitation has stated that it cannot enforce the law on the basis of a property owner's affidavit of receiv- ing unsolicited materials unless there are affidavits showing that such materials were placed at two or more premises as required by law in order to trigger the "rebuttable presumption" provision.
The requirement that such materials be "placed at two or more premises" serves no legitimate purpose in triggering the "rebuttable presumption" of liability for persons who place unsolicited advertising materials on private property. If a property owner has received unsolicited materials they should be allowed to seek protection of the "lawn litter law" and its rebuttable presumption provisions without first having to prove that such materials were placed at more than one location.
Legislative history
2018: S 1663 - referred to Consumer Protection; A 1431 referred to Cities
Fiscal impact on state
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.