Committee on Health meeting
January 27, 2026, 1:00 PM
The Committee on Health held a hearing on two pre-considered bills: Int 0323-2026, related to paid leave for city employees, and Int 0437-2026, related to guidance on child care tax credits. Both bills were laid over after the hearing.
What was discussed
- Chair Schulman opens a hearing on two pre-considered bills Council Member Lynn C. Schulman opened the Committee on Health's first hearing of the session on two pre-considered bills: Council Member Frank Morano's bill giving city employees paid leave to donate bone marrow (five days) or a living organ (20 days), and her own bill requiring the Board of Health
- Council Member Morano introduces his organ- and bone-marrow-donor leave bill Council Member Frank Morano described his bill as removing barriers for people who voluntarily donate organs or bone marrow, providing paid leave and a voluntary honor roll, and framed it as a nonpartisan matter of compassion that respects collective-bargaining frameworks.
- DOHMH testifies that its childcare-permit coordination bill is well-intentioned but overly broad Deputy Commissioner Corrine Schiff of the NYC Health Department testified that the Health Code already sets out childcare-permit requirements—including needed DOB and FDNY approvals—and that the department provides orientation, guidance, and technical assistance; she said the bill as written is
- Is DOHMH already coordinating multi-agency childcare permit approvals? Deputy Commissioner Schiff told Chair Schulman that the department already coordinates with DOB and FDNY on childcare permits, handles background clearances in-house, and issues permits in a median of just under 80 days (average under 150), disputing that there are general bottlenecks; she agreed to
- What are the biggest barriers to opening and staffing childcare programs? Council Member Harvey D. Epstein asked about barriers to opening and staying open; Deputy Commissioner Schiff said DOHMH cut background-clearance turnaround to about 20 days (under the 45-day federal mandate) via a 2023 online system, and that the Board of Health adopted new staffing flexibilities
- Can the Council mandate donor paid leave, or must it be collectively bargained? First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Pollak of the Office of Labor Relations told Council Member Morano that, while the administration appreciates the bill's intent, it has legal and policy concerns about legislating a mandatory subject of collective bargaining and would not commit to bargaining the
- Why won't the city grant paid leave for organ donation as it does for cancer screenings? First Deputy Commissioner Pollak told Chair Schulman that city employees can already use accrued sick leave, advanced sick leave, and leave-donation programs for donation, that the cancer-screening leave stems from state law, and that the administration does not support the bill at this time because
- Hearing adjourns with no public witnesses With no members of the public signed up to testify in person or on Zoom, Chair Schulman thanked the witnesses and adjourned; both bills were laid over.
Agenda
2 items
- Int 0323-2026 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to providing paid leave for city employees who serve as bone marrow or living organ donors and establishing a city bone marrow and living organ donor honor roll Hearing on P-C Item by Comm
- Int 0437-2026 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to guidance relating to the child care program permitting process Hearing on P-C Item by Comm