New York City Council, demystified

On August 16th, the New York City Veterans Alliance introduced a bill to add uniformed service status as a protected class under NYC's non-discrimination statutes. The bill's primary sponsors are NYC Public Advocate Letitia James and council member Jumaane Williams, with two council co-sponsors. Nine veterans posted public comments of support on the NYC Councilmatic bill page - for example, "My husband and I were turned away from several apartments we applied to because the landlords were 'uncomfortable' with us using his VA disability payments as income."

The bill is currently referred to the Committee on Civil Rights, but is not scheduled for the committee's final hearing of the year on December 13th.

After the deaths of Walter Scott in South Carolina and Eric Garner in New York, many called for police officers to wear body cameras for accountability. This bill proposes the creation of a task force to study issues related to police body cameras.

This was one of nine police reform bills considered during a hearing on 6/29, held by the Committee on Public Safety. At the hearing, all nine bills were laid over, meaning that no further actions or votes were taken.