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Rachel May

Sponsor · State Senator, District 48 · Democratic/Working Families

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Senate bill · S1052 (2025-26)

Directs the department of economic development to move the central New York welcome center to the equal rights heritage center in the city of Auburn

Latest action Mar 16, 2026

Summary

Directs the department of economic development to move the central New York welcome center to the equal rights heritage center in the city of Auburn; directs the department of economic development to enter into a contract with the city of Auburn for the operation of such welcome center.

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Where it stands

Passed one of the two chambers; it still needs the other.

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Up for a vote
  4. Passed one chamber
  5. Passed
  6. Enacted

New York State Senate

Same as A6160, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Committee

Commerce, Economic Development And Small Business · New York State Senate

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

To establish the Equal Rights Heritage Center as the Central New York Welcome Center

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

  • Vote: Floor vote

    NY SenateMar 16, 2026Result: passed

    (47) (15) (0) (1)

  • Vote: Committee vote · Commerce, Economic Development And Small Business

    Senate Commerce, Economic Development And Small BusinessMar 4, 2026Result: passed

    (8) (1) (0) (0)

  • Vote: Floor vote

    NY SenateMar 18, 2025Result: passed

    (57) (4) (0) (2)

  • Vote: Committee vote · Commerce, Economic Development And Small Business

    Senate Commerce, Economic Development And Small BusinessMar 12, 2025Result: passed

    (9) (0) (0) (0)

Cosponsors

Joe DeStefano and Josh Jensen

  • Republican2
See the full list on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

The sponsor's argument

Why Rachel May says this is needed

In 2016, then-Governor Cuomo announced an initiative to build 10 welcome centers across the state. The City of Auburn was announced as the home of one of those sites, for the Central New York welcome center. These welcome centers would pinpoint important historic, cultural, and recre- ational sites for visitors to the Empire State. Each would house a Taste NY market, to celebrate local food products, and would help visi- tors to plan their trips and connect with the region. The Auburn Citizen reports that, while the "initial plan for the site in Auburn was that it would be one of the state's welcome centers," circumstances changed and "within months of that announcement... Destiny USA was selected as the site of central New York's welcome center."1 While the welcome center did not manifest, the state funded the construction of the Equal Rights Heritage Center, which the city of Auburn now pays more than $300,000 a year to operate. The Equal Rights Heritage Center is a beautiful and inviting space that welcomes thou- sands of visitors, residents, and local students each year. It serves as a hub for the city and surrounding area, hosting makers' markets and fairs, supporting community events, and serving as a key partner for local tourism efforts. This bill will help give the Equal Rights Herit- age Center the recognition it deserves and fulfill a commitment made in 2016 by designating it the official Central New York visitors center and extending a contract to support that work upon completion of any exist- ing contracts with other facilities.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

  1. Mar 16, 2026

    Sent to the executive

    DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

    NY Senate

  2. Mar 16, 2026

    Passed a chamber

    PASSED SENATE

    NY Senate

  3. Mar 16, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

    NY Assembly

  4. Mar 9, 2026

    Advanced to Third Reading

    ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

    NY Senate

  5. Mar 5, 2026

    2ND Report CAL.

    2ND REPORT CAL.

    NY Senate

Show full history (12 earlier events)
  1. Mar 4, 2026

    1ST Report CAL.446

    1ST REPORT CAL.446

    NY Senate

  2. Jan 7, 2026

    Died in Assembly

    DIED IN ASSEMBLY

    NY Assembly

  3. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SMALL BUSINESS

    NY Senate

  4. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

    NY Assembly

  5. Mar 18, 2025

    Sent to the executive

    DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

    NY Senate

  6. Mar 18, 2025

    Passed a chamber

    PASSED SENATE

    NY Senate

  7. Mar 18, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

    NY Assembly

  8. Mar 17, 2025

    Advanced to Third Reading

    ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

    NY Senate

  9. Mar 13, 2025

    2ND Report CAL.

    2ND REPORT CAL.

    NY Senate

  10. Mar 12, 2025

    1ST Report CAL.545

    1ST REPORT CAL.545

    NY Senate

  11. Feb 26, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

    NY Assembly

  12. Jan 8, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SMALL BUSINESS

    NY Senate

About this record

Summary

The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.

Cosponsors

The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

Party colors

Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.

Source

From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Nov 2, 2026. About our data

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