Thursday, January 16, 2025
Several new measures approved by the state legislature in 2024 are taking effect as of Jan. 1, bringing changes to health insurance, the minimum wage, paid time off and more.
St. James resident Gina Lie neck has fought for new safety policies after her daughter, Brianna, ten 11, died in a 2005 boating accident. Since then, Lie neck championed “Brianna’s Law,” which makes safety classes a requirement to obtain motorized boat operation certificates.
The law originally passed in 2019, requiring a different age group of motorized boat operators to become safety certified every year, according to the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. As of 2025, the rule applies to all boat operators regardless of age. Over the past five years, almost 1 million boaters took safety courses.
For minimum-wage workers in New York State, the new year brings a 50-cent per hour increase, the first of a series of annual adjustments that will occur in 2026 and 2027.
New York state has two minimum wages — $16 an hour for residents of Long Island, New York City and Westchester, and $15 everywhere else. New York’s minimum wage is one of the highest in the country, rivaled by only a few states such as California, New Jersey and Washington, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
Business groups who claim that employers will be pressured into cutting staff or go out of business have criticized the increase in minimum wage.
“In this current era of inflation and rising costs, every cent counts for all New Yorkers, especially workers who earn minimum wage,” state Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said in a news release. “By gradually increasing wages for the lowest earners, we are ensuring businesses can adjust to the change while also helping more families make ends meet.”
For parents with young children or expecting couples, the new measures offer improvements to sick leave and health coverage. Pregnant women can now enroll in state health insurance at any time without penalty. Employers must provide 20 hours of paid time off for women’s prenatal care, including physical exams, medical procedures, and consultations with health providers in preparation for pregnancy.
For the 1.8 million New Yorkers who need Insulin, health insurance will not be able to charge for “a deductible, co-payment, coinsurance or any other sharing requirement,” according to the policy.
The law also now requires medical insurers to directly reimburse ambulance services, a significant change from previous policies requiring individuals to pay for their ambulance transportation.
At the federal level, 66 years, 10 months is the new age for full Social Security benefits.
