Ski helmet bill faces an uphill run
ALBANY — Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, D-Brooklyn, is neither a skier nor a snowboarder — “We could not do that in Puerto Rico when I was growing up” — but on Thursday he unveiled a bill that would mandate the use of helmets for skiers and snowboarders at winter resorts throughout the state. The legislation would compel resorts to “make (helmets) available to the public for sale or lease,” and require individual skiers and snowboarders to wear a helmet on the slopes.
Even if it were to pass, skiers or riders needn’t worry about getting pulled over for a ticket midway down a mogul run: The penalties for violating the measure would be borne by any ski resorts found to be in violation. Resorts would face fines of $100 for a first violation and $200 for a second, with a provision that repeat violations could result in a three-day suspension of its license. The bill also requires resorts to post educational material about injury prevention.
The measure, Ortiz said in a news conference Thursday, would be enforced by the state Department of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation.
The trade group Ski Areas of New York Inc. has issued a memo of opposition to the bill. “It does not consider the operational impact on our resorts and customers,” according to an e-mail from SANY President Scott Brandi.
“The bill is seriously flawed. … The ski industry has a long history of taking a proactive approach to safety on our slopes and trails. With close to 60 million skier visits, our accident rate is below 2.6 per 1,000 visits. In fact, with a national average of 39 deaths annually you are two times more likely to be struck and killed by lightening then to suffer a fatal injury while skiing and riding,” Brandi wrote.
Because of that kind of opposition, the effort to boost ski helmet use by legislative fiat could be in for a few changes before the measure makes it to the floor of either chamber.
But State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, D-Queens, who six weeks ago introduced a bill identical to Ortiz’s in her chamber, said Thursday that she’s thinking of resubmitting the legislation to restrict the mandate to children under age 14 — the current state cutoff for mandatory bicycle helmet use.
Stavisky, who has received a flurry of memoranda opposing the legislation, also wants to tighten up the liability issues that would come into play if, for example, a child is dropped off at a resort with a helmet but decides to take it off.
“You don’t want to bankrupt the hotel and resort industry,” Stavisky said Thursday afternoon.
Later in the day, the senator said she had encountered Ortiz in the Capitol and found him receptive to her concerns.
Ortiz has a reputation for pushing legislation that his critics assail as the height of nanny-state intrusion, including the notion of a $10-per-customer surcharge on strip-joint patrons — a measure that was dubbed the “pole tax” — and a widely ridiculed recent proposal to ban salt from food preparation. Even so, a number of the issues he has taken up, such as the dangers of cell phone use while driving, have ended up passing into law.
Bilingual seminar in Norwalk on unemployment insurance|Assemblyman Tony Mendoza will host an Unemployment ..
hey i ride travis all the time , i got a couple X2 ‘s . in the process of building a flatdeck X2 , lets meet up this summer and own all the fuking couchers
This is the best content on this subject I can find on youtube. No lectures, no awkward lead or segue, just two quick, clear, and very comprehensible action items. Excellent video!
” Calling Assemblyman Richard Brodsky’s presumed consent legislation “tantamount to entrapment,” Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) today launched an opposition campaign to prevent the bill from moving forward in Albany. If passed, New York State would be the first state which presumes people wish to donate their organs unless they specifically opt-out. Presently, prospective donors must give permission to donate their organs by checking a box on their driver’s licenses in the presence of two witnesses, or by filling out a donor card. Joining Hikind in opposition is the Rabbinical Alliance of America, a rabbinic organization which boasts more than 800 members nationwide; The Catholic League, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization; The National Council of Young Israel, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue movement with 146 branches across North America; and leaders from Chesed Shel Emes, an organization which prepares members of the Jewish community for burial according to…
I would propose that the federal government mail a six pack to every Social Security recipient monthly, which means that every retiree would be legally entitled to fire up 120 blunts, or sell them lawfully to anyone over the age of 21 to supplement his or her social security income.
This is a win-win-win. The retiree can either choose bliss or cash, or some combination of the two, and the program will result in full employment in Vermont and California. So really this is a national jobs initiative. (That's the ticket!)
Let's get the SF Assemblyman in touch with the AARP and see what happens.
Okay?
greg oden #1 pick, injured the whole rookie season
Long Island assemblyman collects pension although he's not retired
Rep. Charles Rangel signed an agreement with the House ethics committee but Republicans nixed the deal, the Harlem congressman told supporters yesterday.
Rangel, 80, made the comment at a breakfast yesterday at Sylvia’s, according to Politico.com. State Assemblyman
Keith Wright told Politico that Rangel, a Democrat, had signed…
Gov. David Paterson signed the Dignity for All Students Act on Wednesday, which protects students – including gay and transgender students – from bullying and harassment in schools. This is the first New York law that includes protections for gender identity and expression. The bill passed the state senate in June after the Assembly had approved the bill nine times since it was first introduced in 2002 by openly gay Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell. “Too many students are bullied based on real or perceived differences with their classmates,” O’Donnell said in a statement. “Every student deserves an environment free of harassment, and environment that allows every child to reach his or her full potential. For too long, our educational system has been blind to the plight of these students. I am proud that the Assembly led the way on this important issue, and that today, the Dignity for All Students Act is finally signed into law.” The Dignity for All Students Act also protects students on…