S 3879 New York Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Relates to arbitration proceedings

Summary

Amends provisions of law governing arbitration proceedings; specifies fees and expenses with regard to employment or consumer arbitration proceedings; directs certain sanctions on a party which breaches an arbitration agreement.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Jun 2025

Senate Passage

Jun 2025

Assembly Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 30, 2025 Last action Jun 13, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

S3879 → S3879A · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill was amended after committee review to add new sections to the civil practice law and rules regarding arbitration fees and expenses. The changes establish clear rules for when parties must pay arbitration costs and what happens if they fail to pay on time, particularly protecting employees and consumers from being forced to pay fees before they can initiate or continue arbitration proceedings.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded by adding three new sections (7513-a, 7513-b, and 7517) that create specific protections for employees and consumers in arbitration agreements, while maintaining the original provisions about arbitration venue and attorney representation.

REQUIREMENT

New requirements were added stating that if a party drafting an arbitration agreement fails to pay required fees within 30 days, they are in breach of the agreement and lose the right to force arbitration.

Arbitration providers must now send invoices to all parties on the same day with clear payment deadlines, and courts can impose sanctions on parties who fail to pay required fees.

ENFORCEMENT

New provisions allow employees or consumers who cannot pay fees to either withdraw from arbitration and sue in court, or proceed with arbitration where the other party must pay their legal fees.

TECHNICAL

The bill was renumbered from S 3879 to S 3879-A and the committee status was updated to show it was amended and re-committed.

Floor votes · Senate Jun 13, 2025

How they voted

39–20

Passed · 4 other

Total votes 63

Jun 13, 2025

D Democratic41

38 Yea 3

92% Yea

R Republican22

1 Yea 20 Nay 1

90% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 13, 2025

Committee

REFERRED TO JUDICIARY

lower

Jun 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

PASSED SENATE

upper

Jun 12, 2025

Committee

COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO RULES

upper

Jun 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

PRINT NUMBER 3879A

upper

Jun 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO JUDICIARY

upper

Jan 30, 2025

Committee

REFERRED TO JUDICIARY

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors