BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The New York state Legislature will send a third iteration of a bill to expand the state's wrongful death statute, including allowing for emotional damages, to the governor.
Attorney Terry Connors said he hopes she signs it this time.
"There was some tweaks in accordance with the criticism that was provided by the governor's office. The question is, will those tweaks be able to satisfy the governor's objections," Connors said.
The most substantive revision this year is a narrowing of the definition of family members who are eligible to receive compensation. However, it did not include changes recommended by opposition like the Lawsuit Reform Alliance, including limiting its scope to deceased minors and exempting hospitals and health care professionals from liability.
"The estimate by actuarials is that this would increase medical liability insurance costs by 40% and the changes that the Legislature made to the bill do not impact that analysis at all," alliance executive director Tom Stebbins said.
Connors, who represents families of the victims of the May 2022 Buffalo Tops massacre, said those issues appear to remain the biggest points of contention. He said other states who have expanded their wrongful death statutes have not limited it to the extent opponents propose.
"If you're talking about the Tops market cases, those are primarily elderly individuals who were massacred on May 14. It would certainly affect their cases also, but more importantly, it's a fundamental fairness. It's not really whose case does it affect. It's about bringing us into this century," Connors said.
Again, nearly every lawmaker voted in favor of the bill. Connors said he has been involved in discussions about compromise and those talks continue. However, he said momentum could be building for lawmakers to exercise their power to override the governor's veto with a two-thirds majority vote.
"The question is, is the progress enough or is it frustrating the individual elected representatives so that they will next look to what they call the nuclear option, which is overriding the veto," Connors said.
The state Trial Lawyers Association supported legislation to require insurers to publicly produce data supporting why the law would drive up premiums. Connors said that's an example of compromise proponents are pushing.
The lawsuits brought by the Tops families against numerous parties including social media platforms has survived the first round of motions to dismiss and is currently in the discovery phase. The attorney said appellate processes are slowing down progress but they are working on their own compromise to try to expedite the case.
If the bill is signed in its current form, it would be retroactive and allow a jury to reward emotional damages to the families.