End License Bias for Immigrants

Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "empire state licensing act".

§ 2. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new article 4-D to read as follows:

ARTICLE 4-D

RIGHTS OF IMMIGRANTS IN LICENSING Section 49. Definitions.

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD01691-27-6

49-a. Nondiscrimination based on citizenship or immigration

status.

49-b. Application; confidentiality.

§ 49. Definitions. When used in this article, unless the context requires otherwise:

1. "License" shall mean any state or local government issued professional, occupational, commercial, or business license, registration, permit, certificate, or any other state or local government issued permission to operate in New York state.

2. "Issuing entity" shall mean any state or local government department, board, bureau, commission, or other public entity that issues licenses, permits, certificates or any other state or local government issued permission to operate.

§ 49-a. Nondiscrimination based on citizenship or immigration status. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no otherwise qualified applicant for a license or renewal thereof, shall be denied to any individual or entity based on the immigration or citizenship status of such applicant.

2. Any existing requirement based on United States citizenship or permanent residence shall be deemed null and void for the issuing or renewal of a license, as defined in section forty-nine of this article.

3. No issuing entity shall inquire into, request or require proof of an applicant's citizenship, lawful immigration status, country of birth or national origin.

4. If an issuing entity does not currently have a policy in place for reviewing and analyzing relevant experience obtained in the United States or abroad, such issuing entity shall create a policy for evaluating experience for substantial equivalency to existing requirements in a relevant field. Provided, however, that such policy shall be available to the public and posted on the entity's website, if any.

5. When English-language proficiency is determined to not be necessary by an issuing entity to issue or maintain a license, the application process, including any related examination under the issuing entity, shall be made accessible in an applicant's primary language.

§ 49-b. Application; confidentiality. 1. Every issuing entity shall create and/or maintain processes for the protection from disclosure of identifying information for any purpose other than those required by law, and to comply with the confidentiality requirements herein.

2. The issuing entity shall not retain originals or copies of any documents that may be probative of an applicant's place of birth, including, but not limited to, an applicant's birth certificate, consular identification card, passport, social security card, or individual taxpayer identification number card, for longer than the time needed to review the application. Nothing in this subdivision shall prevent the issuing or registering entity from retaining documents where such documents are required by law to be preserved for the purposes of litigation.

3. The issuing entity shall not disclose information or documents collected that may be probative of an applicant's place of birth, including, but not limited to, country of passport issuance, birth certificate, consular identification card, passport, social security number or social security card, or individual taxpayer identification number or individual taxpayer identification card unless such disclosure is:

(a) authorized in writing by the individual to whom such information pertains, or if such individual is a minor or is otherwise not legally competent, by such individual's parent or legal guardian; or

(b) necessary to comply with a lawful court order, judicial warrant signed by a judge appointed pursuant to article III of the United States constitution, or properly-issued subpoena.

4. To the extent disclosure of confidential information or documents to another state entity is required pursuant to state law, such information and/or documents shall be treated as confidential and not further disclosed by the receiving entity, consistent with the requirements of subdivision three of this section.

5. All issuing entities, and any other state entity that may subsequently receive confidential information and/or documents, shall ensure any information and/or documents that are stored electronically, including but not limited to in databases, shall be compliant with the provisions of subdivision two of this section. Passive electronic access to confidential information and/or documents by external individuals or entities, when disclosure is not otherwise permitted pursuant to subdivision two of this section, shall constitute an unlawful disclosure.

6. Whenever disclosure is permitted pursuant to court order, warrant, or subpoena, the issuing entity shall provide the individual to whom the information and/or documents pertain with a copy of the court order, warrant, or subpoena within three business days of its receipt. Only such information or documents specifically sought pursuant to such court order, warrant, or subpoena shall be disclosed.

§ 3. Subparagraphs vii and viii of paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 89 of the public officers law, as amended by section 2 of part GGG of chapter 59 of the laws of 2019, are amended to read as follows:

vii. disclosure of electronic contact information, such as an e-mail address or a social network username, that has been collected from a taxpayer under section one hundred four of the real property tax law; [or]

viii. disclosure of law enforcement arrest or booking photographs of an individual, unless public release of such photographs will serve a specific law enforcement purpose and disclosure is not precluded by any state or federal laws; or

ix. disclosure of information obtained through application for any state or local government issued professional, occupational, commercial, or business license, registration, permit, certificate, or any other state or local government issued permission to operate in New York.

§ 4. Subdivision 2 and subparagraph 3 of paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 5 of the tax law, as amended by chapter 170 of the laws of 1994, are amended to read as follows:

2. Requiring information. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, every covered agency shall, as part of the procedure for granting, renewing, amending, supplementing or restating the license of any person or at the time the covered agency contracts to purchase or purchases goods or services or leases real or personal property from any person, require that each such person provide to the covered agency such person's federal social security account number [or], federal employer identification number, or [both such numbers when such person has both such numbers, or, where such person does not have such number or numbers, the reason or reasons why such person does not have such number or numbers] the federal individual taxpayer identification number. Such numbers [or reasons] shall be obtained by such covered agency as part of the administration of the taxes administered by the commissioner for the purpose of establishing the identification of persons affected by such taxes.

(3) federal social security account number [or], federal employer identification number, or [both such numbers where such person has both such numbers, or the reason or reasons, furnished by such person, why such person does not have such number or numbers] the federal individual taxpayer identification number.

§ 5. Subdivision 2 of section 3-503 of the general obligations law, as amended by chapter 398 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:

2. Every applicant for a license or renewal thereof shall provide [his or her] their social security number or federal individual taxpayer identification number on the application. Additionally, every applicant for a license or renewal thereof shall certify in the application in a written statement under oath, duly sworn and subscribed, that as of the date the application is filed [he or she] such applicant is (or is not) under obligation to pay child support and that if [he or she is] they are under such an obligation, that [he or she] such applicant does (or does not) meet one of the following requirements:

a. [he or she] the applicant is not four months or more in arrears in the payment of child support; or

b. [he or she] the applicant is making payments by income execution or by court agreed payment or repayment plan or by plan agreed to by the parties; or

c. the child support obligation is the subject of a pending court proceeding; or

d. [he or she] the applicant is receiving public assistance or supplemental security income.

§ 6. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 6 of section 6506 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 7. Subdivision 6 of section 6524 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 8. Paragraph 1 of subdivision 1 of section 6525 of the education law, as amended by chapter 133 of the laws of 1982, is amended to read as follows:

(1) A person who fulfills all requirements for a license as a physician except those relating to the examination [and citizenship or permanent residence in the United States];

§ 9. The opening paragraph of subdivision (a) of section 6528 of the education law, as amended by chapter 122 of the laws of 1975, is amended to read as follows:

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article or any law to the contrary, an individual who at the time of [his] their enrollment in a medical school outside the United States is a resident of the United States shall be eligible for licensure in this state if [he] such individual has satisfied the requirements of subdivisions one, five, [six,] seven and eight of section sixty-five hundred twenty-four of this [chapter] article and:

§ 10. Subdivision 6 of section 6554 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 11. Subdivision 6 of section 6604 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 12. Subdivision 7 of section 6604-b of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 13. Subdivision 6 of section 6609 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 14. Subdivision 6 of section 6704 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 15. Paragraph 1 of subdivision 1 of section 6707 of the education law, as amended by chapter 133 of the laws of 1982, is amended to read as follows:

(1) A person who fulfills all requirements for a license as a veterinarian except those relating to the examination [and citizenship or permanent residence in the United States];

§ 16. Subdivision 6 of section 6711 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 17. Subdivision 1 of section 6711-a of the education law, as amended by chapter 333 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:

1. Eligibility. Persons shall be eligible for a limited permit who fulfill all requirements for a license as a veterinary technician except those relating to the examination [and citizenship or permanent residence in the United States].

§ 18. Paragraph 6 of subdivision 1 of section 6805 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 19. Subdivision 6 of section 6905 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 20. Subdivision 6 of section 6906 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 21. Subdivision 6 of section 6955 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 22. Section 6956 of the education law, as amended by chapter 216 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:

§ 6956. Prior nurse-midwifery certification. Any individual who is certified as a nurse-midwife [pursuant to section twenty-five hundred sixty of the public health law] before June first, nineteen hundred ninety-six, shall be deemed to be licensed as a midwife under this article; provided that each such certified nurse-midwife shall, prior to that date, submit evidence of such certification to the department together with the appropriate fee required by subdivision seven of section sixty-nine hundred fifty-five of this article. Any individual certified as a nurse-midwife [pursuant to section twenty-five hundred sixty of the public health law] (i) may practice under that section until it is repealed, but (ii) shall not practice pursuant to this article until after receiving approval from the commissioner and submitting the fee required by subdivision seven of section sixty-nine hundred fifty-five of this article.

§ 23. Subdivision 6 of section 7004 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 24. Subdivision 6 of section 7104 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 25. Paragraph 6 of subdivision a of section 7124 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 26. Paragraph 6 of subdivision 1 of section 7206 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 27. Paragraph 6 of subdivision 1 of section 7206-a of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 28. Paragraph 6 of subdivision 1 of section 7304 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 29. Paragraph 6 of subdivision 1 of section 7324 of the education law is REPEALED.

§ 30. Paragraph 6 of subdivision 1 of section 7404 of the education law is REPEALED.