Best bill acronyms, from SAFE and DREAM to TRUMP and CREEPER

It can be hard to get a bill signed into law. The state Legislature considers hundreds of pieces of legislation every year, many of which never make it past committee. One way to make a bill stand out? Give it a snappy acronym as a name.

It may be hard to drum up support for state Senate Bill S8217, but the TRUMP Act, now that can get some traction. It’s clever, it’s catchy and most of all, it makes the legislation much easier to refer to in conversation.

TRUMP Act

The Tax Returns Uniformly Made Public Act

This aptly named piece of legislation aims to make public the New York tax returns of President Donald Trump. It never made it past committee when it was first introduced last session, but state Sen. Brad Hoylman has reintroduced it this year in the hope that the bill will be more successful.

NY SAFE Act

The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act

State Sen. Jeffrey Klein introduced this bill in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. It placed a number of new regulations on guns, particularly assault weapons, and was signed into law early in 2013. It has since been the subject of legal challenges and repeal bills in the state Legislature.

GENDA

Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act

The acronym isn’t perfect, but it works if you’re from Boston. The bill has become one of the state Legislature’s most contentious bills, making the name fairly well-known regardless. It aims to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression. It was first introduced in 2003 and has been passed by the Assembly every year since 2008, but the state Senate has never brought it up for a vote.

New York state DREAM Act

The state Legislature can’t take credit for this one, since the bill is a local variation of the older, federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act – or DREAM Act – currently wallowing in Congress. The federal bill would grant immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children permanent residence. The state version was first introduced by state Sen. Jose Peralta and then-Assemblyman Francisco Moya in 2013 to create a DREAM Fund that would award scholarships to the children of immigrants.

CREEPER Act

Curbing Realistic Exploitative Electronic Pedophilic Robots Act

This bill was introduced in December by Rep. Dan Donovan, but he did such a good job with the name that it needed to be included in this list primarily focused on state legislation. As the name implies, the legislation wants to ban the importation and sale of sex dolls that look like children. Anyone who would buy one of those would indeed be a creeper.

MARS Act

Made in America Rating System Act

One could argue this bill is false advertising, since the bill has nothing to do with the planet Mars, nor space at all. The legislation would require that American iron, steel and manufactured products be used in certain government contracts while also creating a system to prioritize the selection of those products. Sponsored by state Sen. Diane Savino and Assemblyman Michael Cusick, it was first introduced in 2016 but has never made it out of committee in either chamber.

IMPEDIR Act

Immigration Provider Enforced Disclosure Information and Registration Act

Who says an acronym needs to be in English? When translated from Spanish, the bill’s acronym means to prevent or impede, yet it actually aims to protect immigrants from fraudulent assistance services. It was first introduced by then-state Sen. Eric Schneiderman. Since he now spends his time suing the Trump administration over everything as the state attorney general, the sponsor in the current session is state Sen. Marisol Alcantara.

BRIDGE Reform Act

Bridge and Road Investment and Dedicated Fund Guaranteed Enforcement Reform Act

The legislation would direct funds toward road and bridge repair and construction. Former state Sen. Tom Libous first introduced the bill in 2009 in light of a 2007 bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Sticklers might complain that the acronym selectively skips a few words to avoid being the BRIDFGER Act, but it’s still a decent bill name. Libous died in 2016 and the version in the current session is sponsored by Assemblyman Joseph Morelle.

EMAIL Privacy Act

Electronic Messaging and Individual Location Privacy Act

Despite its name, this bill does not relate just to email. It would allow law enforcement to execute search warrants for electronic data both inside and outside the state. It was first introduced by Assemblyman Robert Rodriguez in 2013, although no state senator has ever introduced a companion version, including in the current session.

CARE Act

Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable Act

This legislation allows patients in a hospital to designate a caregiver from outside the hospital, and, among other things, require the hospital to properly train that caregiver in aftercare upon the patient’s release. The legislation sponsored by state Sen. Kemp Hannon and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal was signed into law in 2015. Now that’s showing that Gov. Andrew Cuomo CARE(s).