NY Legislature

Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, speaks during a New York State Senate session at the Capitol on Thursday, June 16, 2016, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

(Hans Pennink)

ALBANY, N.Y. -- After midnight Thursday, while their constituents slept, New York's senators were voting, passing bills involving issues like dead people, elephants and Ruby's Law.

Sen. Kenneth LaValle

Although the Senate has a rule that says it is supposed to adjourn at midnight, lawmakers kept at it until 12:43 a.m., despite an objection from Kenneth LaValle, 77, who has seen his share of late night insanity in his 39 years as a senator.

Since most New Yorkers missed seeing the Senate in action in the wee hours, here's a brief summary of three of the low-profile pieces of legislation the Senate passed, without debate, as it rushed to pass dozens and dozens of pieces of bills.

Unidentified dead people

The Senate voted 62-0 to require county medical examiners and coroners who receive unidentified human remains to report identifying information about those remains to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Nationwide, approximately 4,400 unidentified humans are handled annually by coroners, nearly a quarter of which remain unidentified after one year, according to Sen. Diane Savino's bill. It is estimated that only 15% of unidentified remains are reported to federal databases.

The Assembly has already passed this bill, so now it goes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign or veto.

Elephant Protection Act

Elephant lovers will like this one, but circuses and carnivals might not.

The Senate voted 62-0 to ban displaying elephants in any entertainment act, but exempted nationally accredited zoos and acquariums, wildlife sanctuaries and nonprofit environmental education programs.

If approved by the Assembly, a violation of Sen. Terrence Murphy's elephant bill could result in a $10,000 fine.

Ruby's Law

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Michael Venditto, would make it mandatory for law enforcement officers to test the breath, blood or urine of any motor vehicle operators involved in an accident that causes death or a serious physical injury.



The bill is named after Rubin Baum, who was struck and killed by a car while hailing a cab in 2012 in New York City. The other motorist was never tested for drugs even though marijuana and ecstasy were found in his car.

A similar bill was passed by the Assembly in 2014 so there is a chance it will be passed by the Assembly this year.

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