A 8064 New York Assembly · 2025 Regular Session

Relates to the enactment of the student journalism education act

Summary

Enacts the student journalist education act to protect student speech at educational institutions unless such speech is libelous, an invasion of privacy, or incites students to commit an unlawful act, violate school policies, or to materially and substantially disrupt the orderly operation of the school.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Apr 22, 2025 Last action Jan 7, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

A8064 → A8064A · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was renumbered to A 8064-A and its sponsor list was updated to reflect new co-sponsors and committee actions. Substantively, the law now explicitly protects student journalists from prior restraint by requiring school officials to cite specific exemptions before limiting speech. The list of unprotected speech was expanded to include 'profane' content, and the liability section was restructured to clarify that student expression does not represent the school's official position.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on public high schools, but the applicability of protections has been clarified by adding a procedural requirement for administrators to justify any speech limitations.

TECHNICAL

Bill number changed from A 8064 to A 8064-A, indicating it has been amended and reprinted.

ELIGIBILITY

The list of bill sponsors was updated, removing several original sponsors and adding new ones like McMahon and Bronson.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new requirement that school officials must identify specific legal exemptions (like libel or incitement) without delay before restricting student speech.

DEFINITION

The definition of unprotected speech was expanded to explicitly include 'profane' expression alongside libelous, slanderous, and obscene content.

Restructured the liability section to clearly state that student journalism does not constitute an official endorsement or policy of the educational institution.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jan 7, 2026

Committee

REFERRED TO EDUCATION

lower

Dec 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

PRINT NUMBER 8064A

lower

Dec 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO EDUCATION

lower

Apr 22, 2025

Committee

REFERRED TO EDUCATION

lower

1 primary · 54 co-sponsors