Times Union: Grieving Families Act bill vetoed by Hochul

By: Raga Justin

A bipartisan bill that would revamp New York’s 175-year-old wrongful death statute was swiftly vetoed by Gov. Kathy Hochul for the second time on Friday, an outcome the legislation’s sponsors had expected as they continue to try and craft language that will appease myriad stakeholders.

“I think the prospects seem dim,” said state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Manhattan Democrat who sponsored the bill, said this week.

The proposed Grieving Families Act has been hailed by some groups as a needed reform to an antiquated wrongful death statute that governs the amount of damages that families can recoup after a loved one dies in sudden, accidental cases. It has also drawn the ire of insurance, business and trade associations, along with municipal and medical entities. Opponents caution that reforms to the statute without proper guardrails would bring an accompanying spike in medical insurance and liability premiums by expanding the types of damages that are recoverable.

Under the proposal championed by Hoylman-Sigal and victims' families, family members could recoup losses based on their grief and loss. The bill would also have expanded the traditional definition of family members eligible to recover damages, as well as extend the current two-year statute of limitations to bring a wrongful death lawsuit.

Hoylman-Sigal said there has not been widespread agreement among sponsors in the Senate and the Assembly with proposed changes floated by the governor’s office, but declined to comment on the specifics of ongoing conversations. He said the bill should still pass the Legislature again next year.

The senator said he is less willing to compromise on portions of the bill that have been sticking points for Hochul and for many opponents.

“We’ll have a better shot next year to encompass the totality of what we’re seeking. Chipping away at pieces of this bill is, in my opinion, wrong because you’re excluding swathes of the population that have been treated unfairly,” Hoylman-Sigal said. “As it pertains to human lives, half a loaf is unacceptable.”

Negotiations on the bill have been fraught. Hochul vetoed a first iteration of the Grieving Families Act in January, explaining in a rare opinion piece that she was unwilling to risk the potential ripple effects of such legislation on high-liability industries. She also took aim at lawmakers for passing the bill without full consideration of its impacts, but indicated she remained open to negotiation.

Lawmakers passed an amended version of the bill just months later. The retooled version scaled down the statute of limitations on wrongful death claims and limited the types of damages allowed when recovering for emotional loss as well as financial harm. It also tightened the definition of who is eligible to recover damages, limiting eligibility to those who have a legal relationship with the person who died and domestic partners.

But the amended version still faced fierce backlash from the same opponents, who often cite an analysis by the Seattle-based actuarial firm Milliman positing that expanding the damages awarded based on grief and loss would increase general and auto liability insurance premiums by over 11 percent, or an estimated $2.14 billion, for residents and businesses. The end result, opponents say, would be soaring costs for medical practitioners and business groups, as well as local governments.

In the memo accompanying her veto, Hochul acknowledged the existing statute “reinforces historic inequities and discriminatory practices,” but said she believes the bill would have adverse effects on insurance premiums and health care facilities.

She also appeared to take aim at legislators, who had previously said they had been unable to reach a compromise that they believed would have kept the intent of the bill intact.

“I attempted to work in good faith with the Legislature to amend the bill and as the deadline approached, I publicly laid out clear criteria for the appropriate changes,” the governor's memo states. “After robust negotiations with the Legislature were not able to produce a satisfactory compromise, I was constrained to veto that bill.”

Most other states have altered their wrongful death statutes to compensate family members for emotional grief, though other states also place caps on the amount of damages that can be awarded.

Opponents of the Grieving Families Act legislation include several trade associations and educational organizations representing public schools, who argue that the act would implement an arbitrary damage-award process that courts and juries would struggle to interpret. Payouts could be expensive problems for not only insurance companies but entities that pay for insurance premiums.

Lawmakers have said that calls for a fiscal impact study are unnecessary, pointing to other states that have similar allowances for family members to recover for grief and anguish. The current statute has disproportionately undervalued lives of younger people, women and Black and brown individuals, proponents of the legislation say.