Ensures that color vision requirements for appointment of police officers are tailored to only eliminate individuals with extreme color vision deficiencies…

Official titleShow

Ensures that color vision requirements for appointment of police officers are tailored to only eliminate individuals with extreme color vision deficiencies from eligibility

The heading above is this same sentence with its legal opening removed. No words were added, changed or reordered.

Latest action May 11, 2026

Ensures that color vision requirements for appointment of police officers are tailored to only eliminate individuals with extreme color vision deficiencies from eligibility; provides methods under which an individual can meet such requirements after failing to meet an initial color vision standard.

Not chosen yet

Where it stands

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

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

New York State Senate

Amends the Executive Law.

Committee

Codes · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Codes · New York State Senate, Governmental Employees · New York State Assembly.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

The purpose of this bill is to make candidacy in law enforcement acces- sible to eligible individuals with color vision deficiencies by provid- ing practical field examinations as an alternative to clinical diagnos- tic testing in the medical review process.

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

Recorded votes

Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateMay 11, 2026Result: passed
(59) (1) (0) (3)
Vote: Committee vote · Codes
Senate CodesApr 21, 2026Result: passed
(12) (1) (0) (0)
Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateApr 9, 2025Result: passed
(59) (1) (0) (3)
Vote: Committee vote · Codes
Senate CodesMar 25, 2025Result: passed
(11) (1) (0) (1)

Cosponsors

James Skoufis, Lea Webb and 1 more on Agora

Democratic2
Republican1

See the full list on nysenate.gov

The sponsor's argument

Why Rachel May says this is needed

Presently, law enforcement organizations in New York are required to utilize standardized clinical screening tests to identify color vision deficiencies in applicants. These tests are designed to disqualify any applicant with color vision abnormalities - not to Measure an appli- cant's ability to perform their duties in real-world situations. Appli- cants with any type of color vision deficiency may be automatically deemed ineligible for service despite their vision potentially being adequate for field duty. This bill creates an alternative pathway into law enforcement for candidates with color vision deficiencies who can demonstrate, through practical field testing, that they can correctly discriminate colors as necessary for service as a police officer. This bill also specifies that the regulations concerning color vision requirements for police officer candidates should be tailored to focus on applicants with extreme color vision abnormalities that would prevent them from performing regular police duties. Both Iowa and Oregon have already implemented more practical color vision standards for law enforcement candidates, including field testing alternatives and more focused disqualification criteria.

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

May 11, 2026
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
May 11, 2026
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
May 11, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYEES
NY Assembly
Apr 27, 2026
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Apr 22, 2026
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate

Show full history (10 earlier events)

Apr 21, 2026
1ST Report CAL.801
1ST REPORT CAL.801
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Died in Assembly
DIED IN ASSEMBLY
NY Assembly
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO CODES
NY Senate
Apr 9, 2025
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
Apr 9, 2025
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Apr 9, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYEES
NY Assembly
Mar 27, 2025
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Mar 26, 2025
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate
Mar 25, 2025
1ST Report CAL.616
1ST REPORT CAL.616
NY Senate
Feb 4, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO CODES
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

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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