Relates to observance of all religious holidays by institutions within the state university and the city university of New York…

Official titleShow

Relates to observance of all religious holidays by institutions within the state university and the city university of New York, and includes the Asian Lunar New Year within the definition of such holidays

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

Latest action Mar 17, 2026

Relates to observance of all religious holidays by institutions within the state university and the city university of New York; includes the Asian Lunar New Year within the definition of such holidays.

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

Same as A285, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Amends the Education Law.

Committee

Higher Education · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Higher Education · New York State Senate.

Recorded votes

Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateMar 17, 2026Result: passed
(62) (0) (0) (1)
Vote: Committee vote · Higher Education
Senate Higher EducationMar 10, 2026Result: passed
(11) (0) (0) (0)
Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateFeb 26, 2025Result: passed
(61) (0) (0) (2)
Vote: Committee vote · Higher Education
Senate Higher EducationFeb 3, 2025Result: passed
(11) (0) (0) (0)

Cosponsors

Brian Kavanagh, Jeremy Cooney and 5 more on Agora

Democratic7

See the full list on nysenate.gov

The sponsor's argument

Why John Liu says this is needed

This bill mandates that the state and city universities will not penal- ize students for the observance of religious holidays and makes provisions to allow students to observe any such holidays without harm to their school standing. Because the state and city universities already make accommodations by suspending classes for the observance of certain religious observances (e.g., Christmas, Easter, Passover, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, etc.), thus accommodations should be made for all other religious observances, such as Eid Ul-Fitr, Eid Ul-Adha, and Diwali. This bill also includes the Asian Lunar New Year, which is a significant cultural holiday whose observance may include rituals from Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism.

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

Mar 17, 2026
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
Mar 17, 2026
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Mar 17, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Assembly
Mar 12, 2026
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Mar 11, 2026
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate

Show full history (12 earlier events)

Mar 10, 2026
1ST Report CAL.516
1ST REPORT CAL.516
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Died in Assembly
DIED IN ASSEMBLY
NY Assembly
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Assembly
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Senate
Feb 26, 2025
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
Feb 26, 2025
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Feb 26, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Assembly
Feb 5, 2025
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Feb 4, 2025
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate
Feb 3, 2025
1ST Report CAL.224
1ST REPORT CAL.224
NY Senate
Jan 8, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
NY Assembly
Jan 8, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
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 Oct 29, 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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