New York Senate Bill S02071

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/15/25
• Refer: 1/15/25
• Engrossed: 4/9/25
• Refer: 4/9/25
• Refer: 1/7/26
• Engrossed: 4/13/26
• Refer: 4/13/26

Caption

Requires the department of labor create and maintain a list of available careers and job openings for veterans in the state of New York and provide such list to the department of veterans' services; requires such list to be placed on the department of veterans' services website.

Summary

This bill would add a new section to the Labor Law directing the Commissioner of Labor to create and maintain a statewide list of available careers and job openings for veterans. The list must be kept current and shared with the Department of Veterans’ Services, which must also display it prominently on its website. The bill defines “veteran” by reference to the Veterans’ Services Law. In practical terms, the measure is a workforce-navigation and job-access bill for veterans. It does not create a new benefit payment or mandate hiring quotas; instead, it requires state agencies to compile and publicize employment opportunities that may be relevant to veterans, with the goal of improving access to civilian careers and state job information.

Impact

The bill amends the Labor Law by adding a new section 45 and imposes a new administrative duty on the Department of Labor to curate and update a veterans-focused employment list. It also creates a coordination requirement between the Department of Labor and the Department of Veterans’ Services, and requires online publication of the list on the veterans’ services website. The affected parties are state agencies responsible for labor and veterans’ services, as well as veterans seeking employment opportunities in New York.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong and unanimous support in the Senate, with committee approval and final passage votes recorded at 9-0 and 60-0 in 2025, and again 9-0 and 50-0 in 2026. That pattern suggests broad bipartisan agreement that the bill is a low-cost, pro-veteran workforce measure. No committee transcript is available, but the recorded votes indicate little to no opposition.

Contention

There is no documented substantive controversy in the provided materials. Because the bill is administrative in nature and does not impose mandates on private employers or alter veteran eligibility for benefits, likely points of concern would have centered on agency workload, maintenance of current job listings, and implementation details. However, the unanimous votes suggest those issues were not significant sources of disagreement among legislators.