Crain's New York Business: Local governments join push against wrongful death bill, urging Hochul veto

By: Nick Garber

Local governments including New York City have joined the business and medical groups urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto a bill that would expand the kinds of damages people could obtain from wrongful death lawsuits.

The Grieving Families Act, which passed the Legislature in June, would allow people to be compensated for emotional anguish from the loss of their loved ones, not only lost income that can be easily quantified as damages. Hochul previously vetoed a version of the bill in January, citing its potential to raise insurance premiums and harm small businesses, but lawmakers later narrowed its scope in hopes of winning her support.

Those changes have not placated the bill’s opponents, such as the Business Council of New York State and a slew of insurance, legal defense and medical groups, all of whom joined a letter sent to Hochul on Monday. They anticipate the bill being sent to her desk before the end of the year. Also speaking out against the bill is the state’s Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officers, who fear it could strain the bottom lines of small local governments.

New York City’s Law Department has also submitted its own memorandum in opposition to the current bill, as it also did in 2021 and 2022, an agency spokesperson confirmed.

“As cities and villages across New York navigate workforce shortages and strained finances, the last thing they need to worry about is increased litigation and liability insurance costs,” said Barbara Van Epps, the Conference of Mayors’ executive director, in a statement. “Perceived as ‘deep pockets,’ local governments are already pulled into a disproportionate number of lawsuits even when they have no real connection to the case.”

In addition to causing higher health care premiums, critics say the bill would increase the cost of other kinds of insurance purchased by governments and small businesses.

The bill’s sponsors, including Manhattan State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, have said they resolved the governor’s concerns that led to her previous veto. The sponsors clarified which family members are eligible for damages, reduced an extension of the statute of limitations, and limited the kinds of damages that can be recovered.

Supporters say the legislation is needed to reform the baked-in bias that currently governs malpractice claims. Women, young people and the elderly, people of color and those with disabilities are all likely to earn less income; their families therefore have weaker claims for lost income.

Forty-one other states compensate relatives for emotional loss, proponents note. State lawmakers have introduced versions of the Grieving Families Act dating back more than a decade but did not succeed in passing it until last year.