Bill Text: NY S02807 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to establishing the Women's rights history trail; includes in such trail a series of properties and sites linked by geographic proximity and association with women's rights for the purpose of promoting education and awareness.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-12 - REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE [S02807 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S02807-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2807
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 17, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism,
          Parks and Recreation
        AN ACT to amend the parks, recreation and historic preservation law,  in
          relation to creating the "Women's rights history trail" program
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The parks, recreation  and  historic  preservation  law  is
     2  amended by adding a new article 42 to read as follows:
     3                                  ARTICLE 42
     4                    WOMEN'S RIGHTS HISTORY TRAIL PROGRAM
     5  Section 42.01 Legislative intent.
     6          42.03 Definitions.
     7          42.05 General functions, powers and duties of the commissioner.
     8    § 42.01 Legislative   intent.  The  legislature  recognizes  that  the
     9  women's rights movement is one of the three great protest traditions  in
    10  United  States history, sharing that status with the struggle for racial
    11  equality and the labor movements.
    12    The legislature further recognizes that the  women's  rights  movement
    13  has  a  strong  tradition  in the state.   In the nineteenth century the
    14  state was at the cutting edge of the women's rights  movement.  On  July
    15  19,  1848, a group of activists including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucre-
    16  tia Mott and Mary Ann M'Clintock,  convened  the  first  Women's  Rights
    17  Convention at Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls. During the convention, 68
    18  women  and  32  men  signed  the Declaration of Sentiments calling for a
    19  broad array of rights for women, including suffrage.  In 1868, Susan  B.
    20  Anthony  helped to found the American Equal Rights Association. In 1890,
    21  under her leadership and the leadership of Elizabeth Cady  Stanton,  the
    22  National  American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was formed.  NAWSA
    23  was instrumental in  securing  passage  of  the  19th  amendment,  which
    24  amended  the  Constitution  to  give  women  the right to vote. The 19th
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07407-01-7
        S. 2807                             2
     1  amendment was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and  was  ratified  on
     2  August  18,  1920.  Susan  B.  Anthony also campaigned for the rights of
     3  women to own property, to keep their own earnings, and to  have  custody
     4  of their children. In 1900, she persuaded the University of Rochester to
     5  admit  women.    In  the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the women's
     6  movement expanded to play a critical role in shaping policies on  educa-
     7  tion,  legal  reform,  and economic and social welfare.  The legislature
     8  recognizes that there are many notable women in the state who fought for
     9  women's suffrage. It is therefore the intent of this legislature to have
    10  created a program that will systematically identify properties and sites
    11  for inclusion into a women's  rights  history  trail.    By  creating  a
    12  women's  rights  history  trail,  the state will encourage the education
    13  about and awareness of the important role of women in the state  in  the
    14  women's  rights  movement  and  their contribution to history as well as
    15  attract visitors to the state and enhance  the  state's  tourism  trade.
    16  Further  it  is the intent of the legislature to ensure that the women's
    17  rights history trail is adequately signed so that travelers  may  follow
    18  the trail independently and with ease.
    19    § 42.03 Definitions. As used in this article the following definitions
    20  shall apply:
    21    1.  "Women's  rights  history trail" shall mean a series of properties
    22  and sites identified  by  the  commissioner,  which  may  be  linked  by
    23  geographic  proximity  and alignment and thematic and historical associ-
    24  ation with women's rights.
    25    2. "Women's rights history passport" shall mean  a  booklet  or  other
    26  publication that names and describes the properties and sites identified
    27  by  the  commissioner  and included on the women's rights history trail,
    28  and may include discounts and other incentives related to  visiting  the
    29  properties and sites on the women's rights history trail.
    30    §  42.05 General  functions, powers and duties of the commissioner. 1.
    31  The commissioner shall develop and implement the "women's rights history
    32  trail" program. Such program shall promote education  and  awareness  of
    33  the struggle for women's rights throughout history. The commissioner, in
    34  conjunction with the commissioner of transportation, and any other prop-
    35  erties  or sites as identified by the commissioner and any local govern-
    36  ment official or entity, shall identify properties and  sites  that  are
    37  historically  and  thematically associated with the struggle for women's
    38  rights and women's suffrage to be part of the trail.
    39    2. The women's rights history trail shall include, but  shall  not  be
    40  limited  to,  properties  and sites which tell the story of the seventy-
    41  two-year fight for women's suffrage. These properties  and  sites  shall
    42  include  the  Women's  National  Historical  Park,  the Susan B. Anthony
    43  birthplace, the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Houses in Washington  county  and
    44  Seneca Falls, sites associated with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Johnstown,
    45  Woodlawn Cemetery, sites associated with Carrie Chapman Catt, the Gerrit
    46  and  Ann  Smith  House,  the  Matilda Joslyn Gage House, the Harriet May
    47  Mills House, the Harriet Tubman Home, the Stone Store Museum, the Seward
    48  House, sites associated with the Seneca Falls women's rights convention,
    49  the First Presbyterian Church of Seneca Falls, the Ontario County Court-
    50  house, the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse,  the  Susan  B.  Anthony
    51  House  in  Rochester,  the Susan B. Anthony childhood home in Washington
    52  county, the Alice Austen Home in the borough of Staten  Island,  Barnard
    53  College  in the borough of Manhattan, the Michigan Street Baptist Church
    54  in Buffalo, sites associated with Grandma Moses in Easton, and any other
    55  properties or sites as identified by the commissioner.  The commissioner
        S. 2807                             3
     1  shall develop the women's rights history trail so that it is  relatively
     2  simple and easy to follow for patrons.
     3    3. The commissioner shall cause to produce and disseminate appropriate
     4  educational  materials  regarding  the  trail  route, such as handbooks,
     5  maps, exhibits, signs, interpretive guides and electronic information.
     6    4. The commissioner shall cause to be developed  vacation  itineraries
     7  based  on  the  women's  rights  history trail, which shall identify for
     8  visitors surrounding attractions, restaurants, farms, lodging and  other
     9  exhibits  or  places of entertainment as may be a part of the historical
    10  theme linking the properties and sites on  the  women's  rights  history
    11  trail.
    12    5.  The  commissioner shall work to develop discount packages for such
    13  women's rights history trail, which may include  the  development  of  a
    14  women's  rights  history  trail  passport.  Nothing  shall  preclude the
    15  commissioner from contracting with an  independent  vacation  or  travel
    16  package  company  to  help  develop  vacation packages along the women's
    17  rights history trail.
    18    6. The commissioner of transportation shall cooperate with the  office
    19  in  carrying  out  the  provisions  of this section. The commissioner of
    20  transportation is authorized to permit the installation and  maintenance
    21  of  signs  on the state highway system for trails designated pursuant to
    22  this section. However, to avoid confusion  and  to  limit  any  possible
    23  disruption  of  commerce,  the  trail designation called for pursuant to
    24  this section shall be of a ceremonial nature and the official  names  of
    25  such highways shall not be changed as a result of such designations.
    26    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.