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Jessica Ramos

Sponsor · State Senator, District 13 · Democratic/Working Families

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Senate bill · S2234 (2025-26)

Provides that either party to a workers' compensation claim can request a hearing

Latest action Mar 25, 2026

Summary

Provides that either party to a workers compensation claim can request a hearing; requires a record of all hearings held.

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Where it stands

Out of committee and scheduled for a vote by the full chamber.

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

New York State Senate

Same as A4742, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Amends the Workers' Compensation Law.

Committee

Labor · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Labor · New York State Senate, Ways and Means · New York State Assembly.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

To provide injured workers with an initial hearing in every case, so that they may appear before a referee in order to understand their rights and obligations under the Worker's Compensation Law, and to provide all parties with a hearing within a 45 days of the filing of their request, so that issues may be resolved quickly

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

Recorded votes

  • Vote: Committee vote · Labor

    Senate LaborMar 25, 2026Result: passed

    (12) (1) (0) (0)

  • Vote: Committee vote · Labor

    Senate LaborJan 28, 2026Result: passed

    (12) (1) (0) (0)

  • Vote: Committee vote · Labor

    Senate LaborApr 8, 2025Result: passed

    (12) (1) (0) (0)

Cosponsors

Andrew Hevesi, Angelo Santabarbara and 15 more on Agora

  • Democratic16
  • Republican1
Show all 17 on Agora
See the full list on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

The sponsor's argument

Why Jessica Ramos says this is needed

In practice, however, the Board neither schedules conciliation meetings and rarely honors the parties' applications for hearings. Instead, the Board routinely makes findings of fact and law by the unilateral issu- ance of "proposed conciliation decisions." Such decisions are often issued absent the request of any party, are not the result of a meeting or hearing, and are issued in English only, using language that requires a high degree of both literacy and familiarity with the workers' compen- sation system. Moreover, the Board routinely delays or denies the appli- cations of parties for hearings, frequently responding with administra- tive correspondence or proposed decisions that are an inadequate substitute for a fair hearing on the issues. These administrative processes do not provide meaningful information to injured workers about their rights and benefits under the Workers Compensation Law. This is especially true for workers with language or literacy barriers. When workers are unable to access workers' compen- sation benefits for workplace injuries, those costs are often shifted to private insurers, union health care funds, taxpayers, and the injured

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 25, 2026

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

    NY Senate

  2. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO LABOR

    NY Senate

  3. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS

    NY Assembly

  4. Jun 5, 2025

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS

    NY Assembly

  5. May 20, 2025

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED REFERRED TO CODES

    NY Assembly

Show full history (3 earlier events)
  1. Apr 8, 2025

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

    NY Senate

  2. Feb 6, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO LABOR

    NY Assembly

  3. Jan 16, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO LABOR

    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 1, 2026. About our data

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