First Draft: A Trump-Proofing Blueprint for State Legislators
A catalogue of New York bills that fight back
State governments have a critical role to play in the battle to defend our democracy from Donald Trump and his proto-fascist administration. This was a topic I wrote about in The New Republic in March; a recent Substack by Chris Armitage provides an excellent up-to-the minute survey of the landscape. The question of how state legislators, specifically, can use their power to fight back is an important piece of the equation, but not without its difficulties, and I’ve been heartened by a widening set of efforts and conversations aimed at tackling it.
Blue-state Attorney Generals have well-established processes for developing and collaborating on multi-state legal action, and they are heroes of our time for putting their offices to work to stop some of the most pernicious actions of the Trump regime. Governors, too, have channels of communication and mutual support that are getting more use than ever on issues from redistricting to the deployment of federal officers into our nation’s cities.
But coordination among legislators from different states is harder to organize for a number of reasons: there are so many of us; there is no clear point-person in each state; and the policy and political dynamics — not just of each state, but specific to and within legislative chambers and conferences — tend to be sui generis.
In the face of this, a number of strategists and organizations have focused on fostering free-flowing dialogue and idea-exchange among state legislators focused on responding to Trump. (Shout-out to The States Project, strategists Arkadi Gerney and Sarah Knight, and State Futures.) These efforts — advanced through group chats, Zooms, and in-person convenings, and bolstered by generally ad hoc but serious legal and policy explorations — have produced a growing body of state legislation that aims to expand state power to protect laws, liberties, and programs that our constituents depend on.
This is critical because there is no blueprint on the shelf, and no single source of expertise on state legislative countermeasures to Trump’s policies. The reality is that the imagination of Trump and his people when it comes to harm and malfeasance exceeds — at least in speed and scope — the capacity of individual legislators to develop effective and smart responses.
The task of developing “Trump-proofing” legislation is made more difficult by the fact that the issues and laws involved vary widely: an effective response to one Trump action is not simply tweaked to respond to the next; generally, an entirely different strategy must be devised. And limitations on state power — whether deriving from the Supremacy Clause and federal preemption, or immunity afforded to federal officials — must be reckoned with when writing state bills.
As a result, this project benefits enormously from lots of different people in different places pursuing different paths, and comparing notes along the way. Ideas crop up and spread in unpredictable and idiosyncratic ways — but they do so much more frequently when the people involved are engaged in active dialogue. Each of the bills that I’ve introduced to fight back has its own origin story — and many of them emanated from conversations with other legislators and activists who also wake up each morning horrified by Trump’s latest.
All of this is a perfect and important example of Justice Brandeis’s characterization of states as laboratories of democracies. And it’s (finally) picking up some steam.
Last week, I had the privilege to participate — along with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, and Florida representative Anna Eskamani — in a nationwide zoom on this topic, organized by a coalition of groups committed to the defense of the rule of law. In preparing for the discussion, I realized that New York now has a rather large body of anti-Trump bills that have been introduced. In service of advancing the national conversation about state-level countermeasures, I thought it would be useful to catalogue what’s currently on the board, which I’ve done below. (My apologies, in advance, to any colleague whose bill belongs on this list but has inadvertently been omitted; I am happy to make additions.)
I have found it a useful heuristic when thinking up Trump-proofing initiatives to group them into one of three categories: bills that expand state authority in areas where Trump is disabling the federal government; bills that protect the rights of New Yorkers from hostile federal or red-state action; and “jiu-jitsu bills,” which in some way aim to turn the tables on Trump and his allies, either by making them pay a price for their actions or otherwise turning them to our advantage.
My experience has been that the first category of bills has been the easiest to advance through the legislative process — because they operate within existing structures of law and policy, are consistent with the Democratic Party’s historic commitment to strong government institutions, and do not raise political questions that are controversial in swing districts.
Rights-protecting bills, particularly on immigration, have proven more difficult, largely because of the politics in parts of the state that are far, both geographically and ideologically, from my district on the Upper West Side.
The bills that most aggressively go after Trump are the hardest — not because there isn’t a broad appetite to take him on, but because these bills tend to be unorthodox in construction and because the legislature is not in the habit of passing bills (at least knowingly) that may not stand up to a legal challenge.
In general, I believe that just as Trump breaks another norm every day as he establishes an autokleptocracy, we Democrats must continue stretching further beyond our comfort zone in fighting back. That has been the animating principle of my push to amend the State Constitution to allow New York to do a mid-decade redistricting in response to Texas: my regrets about abandoning the principles of independent redistricting in my state are dwarfed by my concerns that we may never again have a competitive nationwide contest for control of Congress.
But I believe this willingness to jettison traditionally self-imposed limitations on action also must apply to the political risks we are willing to take and the legal questions we are willing to test on every issue and every bill if it has to do with Trump. We are not only in a fight for our democracy but a race to save it, as well — and the faster we come to peace with pushing the envelope, the better shot we have of winning in the end.
Bills that Expand State Authority
Bill number: A.4040A/S.4067A
Title/Description: Codifies federal “disparate impact” standard in state saw.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Kavanagh
Notes: This bill responds to Trump’s attack on the legal doctrine that is critical to enforcement of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Bill number: A.8016A/S.7494A
Title/Description: GRIFT Act: Establishes new tools for state-level enforcement of securities fraud.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Gianaris
Notes: This bill responds to Trump’s gutting of the SEC and gives financial fraud whistleblowers an incentive to report crimes to state authorities.
Bill number: A.8427A/S.8416
Title/Description: FAIR Business Practices Act: Expands the authority of the State Attorney General to take action on corporate misconduct and consumer protection.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Comrie
Notes: As with the GRIFT Act and securities fraud, this bill responds to Trump’s gutting of federal consumer protection efforts.
Bill number: A.8590A/S.8034A
Title/Description: Expands the protections of the New York State Labor Relations Act to employees that are not covered by the National Labor Relations Board.
Assembly Sponsor: Bronson
Senate Sponsor: Ramos
Notes: This bill aims to ensure that, in instances where the NLRB narrows its jurisdiction or ceases to function, the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively will remain protected in New York.
Bills that Protect People and their Rights
Bill number: A.3506A/S.2235A
Title/Description: New York for All Act: Prohibits, except when required by law, the use of public resources for immigration enforcement and various forms of cooperation by state and local governments with immigration authorities.
Assembly Sponsor: Reyes
Senate Sponsor: Gounardes
Notes: This bill aims to ensure that state and local authority is not used to aid and abet Trump’s deportation campaign.
Bill number: A.4181/S.316
Title/Description: Dignity Not Detention Act: Prohibits state and local government agencies from entering into agreements with ICE to detain individuals.
Assembly Sponsor: Reyes
Senate Sponsor: Salazar
Notes: This bill aims to ensure that state and local facilities are not used to aid and abet Trump’s deportation campaign.
Bill number: A.5373A/S.4735B
Title/Description: Prohibits unauthorized immigration enforcement actions in school settings.
Assembly Sponsor: Cruz
Senate Sponsor: Sepulveda
Notes: This bill requires schools to bar access to immigration authorities acting without a judicial warrant.
Bill number: A.5480C/S.4914B
Title/Description: Shield Law 2.0: Expands the universe of providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care who are protected from criminal or civil liability or professional sanctions imposed by outside jurisdictions.
Assembly Sponsor: Bronson
Senate Sponsor: Hoylman-Sigal
Notes: This law builds on earlier legislation enacted to protect New York from legal incursions by red states aimed at chilling the provision of care.
Bill number: A.6596A/S.6377A
Title/Description: Requires Medicaid to cover gender-affirming care, regardless of federal funding, and prohibits discriminatory practices related to gender-affirming care.
Assembly Sponsor: Rosenthal
Senate Sponsor: Hoylman-Sigal
Notes: This bill would ensure that New Yorkers can continue to access gender-affirming care regardless of coercive efforts by the Trump Administration to impede access.
Bill number: A.7410
Title/Description: Prohibits lawsuits against librarians who refuse to remove library materials.
Assembly Sponsor: Rosenthal
Notes: This bill aims to protect librarians who stand up to efforts to censor and limit access to library materials.
Bill number: A.7777/S.1099
Title/Description: Freedom to Read Act: Directs the State Education Department to develop policies to ensure that school libraries and library staff are empowered to curate widely varied collections.
Assembly Sponsor: Simone
Senate Sponsor: May
Notes: This bill aims to ensure that school libraries in New York are not subject to censorship efforts that have taken hold elsewhere.
Bill number: A.8139/S.4121
Title/Description: Protects people from civil arrest while within one thousand feet of a sensitive location.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Jackson
Notes: This bill aims to create spaces that are off-limits to ICE without a judicial warrant, including health care facilities, schools, shelters, houses of worship, and elected officials’ offices.
Bill number: A.8908/S.8462
Title/Description: Prohibits law enforcement officers from wearing masks in the performance of their duties.
Assembly Sponsor: Simone
Senate Sponsor: Fahy
Notes: This bill aims to end the practice of ICE agents concealing their identity as they whisk people off the streets of New York.
Bill number: A.8977
Title/Description: Prohibits bail enforcement agents from enforcing immigration actions.
Assembly Sponsor: Rosenthal
Notes: This bill addresses concerns about the use of bounty hunters as extensions of ICE.
Jiu-Jitsu Bills
Bill number: A.8096/S.7153
Title/Description: DOGE Act: Directs review of tax subsidy deals with Elon Musk and Tesla.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Hoylman-Sigal
Notes: This bill, which may have limited applicability outside of New York, aims to review and potentially revoke a wasteful tax subsidy deal with Tesla.
Bill number: A.8097/S.6915
Title/Description: RECOURSE Act: Authorizes the state to withhold payments to the federal government in the event that the federal government violates a court order and holds up money due to the state.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Ramos
Notes: This bill, which was inspired by a bill introduced in Maryland, is one of the most aggressive Trump-proofing bills out there.
Bill number: A.8187/S.7716
Title/Description: BRIDGE Act: Provides state pension credit for former federal employees.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Ramos
Notes: This bill would enable former federal employees, including those laid off by Trump, to come to work for the state and get pension credit in the state system.
Bill number: A.8241/S.8075
Title/Description: Tariff Transparency Act: Requires the disclosure of increases in automobile prices due to tariffs.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Cooney
Notes: This bill relies on existing disclosure documents to provide consumers with information about how much more they are paying for a new car because of Trump’s tariffs.
Bill number: A.8318B/S.7860B
Title/Description: Excludes hours worked by an attorney or applicant to the bar as part of an agreement with the federal government from pro bono reporting; prevents a law firm from requiring attorneys to work in service of such an agreement.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Hoylman-Sigal
Notes: This bill aims to reduce the opportunity for law firms and attorneys to benefit from cutting deals with the Trump Administration.
Bill number: A.8383/S.7823
Title/Description: Removes a requirement that the state follow recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on immunization against meningococcal disease.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Hoylman-Sigal
Notes: While not precluding the state from following CDC recommendations on vaccinations, this would eliminate the sole remaining requirement in law that it do so.
Bill number: A.8636/S.8173
Title/Description: Authorizes the state to place liens on federal properties in the event that the federal government violates a court order and holds up money due to the state.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Cleare
Notes: Like the RECOURSE Act, this bill was inspired by a bill introduced in Maryland.
Bill number: A.9014/S.8467
Title/Description: Amends the state constitution to authorize the state to redraw congressional district boundaries mid-decade if another state has done so first.
Assembly Sponsor: Lasher
Senate Sponsor: Gianaris
Notes: This bill enables New York to respond to Texas’s actions, at Trump’s behest, to redraw congressional lines mid-decade; unfortunately, because of the constitutional amendment process, it could not take effect until the 2028 elections.