NEW YORK    
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Legislature

The Naturist Action Committee (NAC) has achieved a significant success in the New York legislature. Amendatory language offered by NAC has been accepted by both the State Assembly and the State Senate, accomplishing an important modification to legislation that had threatened the interests of naturists.

At specific risk from the proposed new law, as originally introduced, were family-friendly naturist and nudist parks and resorts in the state.

New York Assembly Bill 1174 and its companion, Senate Bill 224 were introduced in early January with the intent of amending the state's penal law, employment law and cultural affairs law, so that the employment of minors in sexually oriented business establishments would be prohibited.

As introduced, however, the two legislative measures were so broadly written that they would have prevented minors from working, performing or dancing at ANY location where people are nude, including all naturist parks and resorts in the state of New York.

Some threats are best dealt with behind the scenes, and these New York bills are good examples of that. In this instance, NAC chose not to call for the sort of grass roots action that can be so very effective in other situations. Instead, NAC board member Morley Schloss went directly to the lawmakers who sponsored these bills.

Working intensively with legislative staff over a period of months, Schloss identified the unintended consequences of the legislative language and discussed acceptable alternatives. As a direct result of involvement by the Naturist Action Committee and the personal persistence of Morley Schloss, both bills have been modified. On April 5, 2007, NAC formally offered new language that tightened the focus of the proposed new laws, providing protection for naturist individuals, families and groups. Also protected by the revision are naturist and nudist facilities, as well as businesses that may be used occasionally for naturist activities.

Although the language of the Senate and Assembly versions were identical, the two houses of the New York State Legislature have distinct ways of rendering bills, and they prefer different formats for amending them. To make the process painless for lawmakers, NAC carefully formatted its changes in two different ways, sending an appropriately marked-up text to each legislative house.

Both the Assembly and the Senate accepted the revised language, exactly as NAC submitted it. Each house incorporated that language into its respective versions of the bill. Senate Bill 224, as amended, was selected as the legislation to move forward. The bill, amended with NAC's language, was passed and signed into law by Governor Eliot Spitzer on July 3, 2007.

Click here to read the NAC Advisory dated June 16, 2007. Includes links to the legislation, as introduced, as well as to NAC's amended language and pertinent existing state law.
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The New York legislature meets from January 9, 2008 through January 7, 2009. Bills from 2007 DO CARRY OVER to the 2008 session. Prefiled bills are allowed.

The NAC board member responsible for New York is Morley Schloss.

View the state laws for New York.

© 2007 Naturist Action Committee, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.