State lawmakers are considering legislation to create a Bill of Rights for students enrolled in New York's public colleges and universities before they leave Albany later this month.

Lawmakers introduced legislation earlier this year to implement a students' Bill of Rights for all State University of New York and City University of New York institutions. 

It would strengthen students' access to free speech and create designated free speech areas on campus; require student participation in conduct cases and with all policy-making bodies for policies affecting students; require student government to decide the allocation of activity fees; bolster protections for student journalists and more.

"The purpose of the bill is to give young people, our future leaders in our city, state and country the right to be able to express themselves and make sure they're participating in the government of the institution they belong to," Senate sponsor Robert Jackson said Monday. "Just like in the state Senate, we make our own rules to make sure that everyone has a right to say what they want." 

SUNY and CUNY students told Spectrum News 1 they need additional legislative support to protect their free speech, financial autonomy and ability to govern on public campuses after years of fighting with campus administrators.

"To protect the next generation of students, we need to fight harder, we need to be stronger," said Gabrielle Lerner, a recent graduate of SUNY Empire University and the outgoing president of the university's Student Government Association. "This is the foundation that is going to be able to get us there." 

Lerner said her time as a student leader showed her why SUNY and CUNY students need a systemwide Bill of Rights.

Earlier this year, Empire University's administration scrapped a conference about accessibility the campus' Student Government Association elected to put together. Campus administrators denied the group's request to use student activity funds for the event, she said, because of concerns the conference wouldn't be successful. Then, administration hosted a conference using student activity funds on a different topic.  

"We need to do something about this, because they're not listening to us," Lerner said of the legislation.

Lerner said a students' Bill of Rights would have made a difference throughout her education. 

"It would have been illegal for the administrators to arbitrarily deny our request because they didn't think it was a good idea," she said.

Manhattan Democrats Jackson and Assembly sponsor Harvey Epstein said they drafted the bill after years of hearing complaints from SUNY and CUNY student leaders who had their funding allocations rejected by administrators. Student activity fee allocations must first go through an institution’s student government. 

Current law protects students' civil rights, but Epstein said his proposal would further shield students from retaliation if they question the administration or lobby for something campus leaders are against.

"We want to make sure there's something in the law to protect students even if they do something that the administration doesn't support, as long as it's not illegal or doesn't violate someone's civil rights," the assemblyman said. 

The New York College Democrats, SUNY/CUNY's Graduate Student Employees' Union, Cornell University's student assembly and several other student government groups in the state have written letters in support of the legislation.

Jackson said public campuses must be organized as President Donald Trump has threatened to stop federal funding to schools that allow what he calls "illegal protests."

Epstein said his office regularly hears from students on many campuses that refuse to support certain groups, and a uniform system for SUNY and CUNY would give students fighting for their rights extra legal protections to fall back on. 

"Systemwide, leadership is good, but campus to campus we see issues happening we just really want to get in front of," he said.

Representatives with the Senate and Assembly Democrats said Monday leadership is expected to discuss the proposal before session ends, but it's unclear if it will pass both houses before senators' last day of session June 12 and the Assembly concludes legislative business June 17. 

A CUNY spokesperson said CUNY does not comment on pending legislation, but multiple lawmakers said CUNY officials support the proposal.

Lawmakers said they have yet to receive feedback from SUNY. 

“We are reviewing this bill and we are committed to ensuring safety, civil discourse and inclusivity across all of our campuses," a SUNY spokesperson said in a statement.