On the New York State November 7, 2017 ballot were 3 proposals.
The 1st and most important proposal was the question; “Should a Constitutional Convention should be held in 2019. 83% of the voters said NO. At risk: The right to unionize and bargain collectively; Workers’ compensation; Public pension protections - The constitution guarantees your pension will be there; Public education - The state constitution guarantees our students the right to a free public education; The environment — New York State’s constitution has the nation’s strongest protections for forever wild areas like the Adirondacks and the Catskills. Greedy developers could push to undo these safeguards; The social safety net — The state constitution ensures the state provides for citizens in need; Last but by no means least, Our voting rights — The constitution provides valuable protections. Opening the Constitution would have been like opening a Pandora’s Box.
The 2nd proposal was an amendment to the Constitution that was approved. New York’s Constitution now provides that the benefits of a public pension or retirement system cannot be reduced or impaired. The purpose of the amendment is to allow a court to reduce or revoke the public pension of a public officer who is convicted of a felony that has a direct and actual relationship to the performance of the public officer’s existing duties. It will be in effect for any convictions for crimes committed after January 1, 2018.
The 3rd proposal was also an Amendment to the Constitution. It specifically addresses protected land in the Adirondacks. It was approved by a narrow margin. The New York State’s Constitution protects the State’s forest preserve as wild forest land and generally prohibits the lease, sale, exchange, or taking of any forest preserve land. The amendment creates two new exceptions to this broad protection of the forest preserve to make it easier for municipalities to undertake certain health and safety projects. Examples of such projects to be determined & subject to legislature approval, are bike paths, extensions of public utility lines, addressing bridge hazards, or safety on county highways, and town highways.
First, the amendment will create a land account of up to 250 acres of forest preserve land. A town, village, or county can apply to the land account if it has no viable alternative to using forest preserve land for specified health and safety purposes. These purposes are (1) to address bridge hazards or safety on specified highways; (2) to eliminate the hazards of dangerous curves and grades on specified highways; (3) to relocate, reconstruct, and maintain highways; and (4) for water wells and necessary related accessories located within 530 feet of a specified highway, where needed to meet drinking water quality standards. The State will acquire 250 acres to add to the forest preserve to replace the land placed in the health and safety land account, subject to approval by the Legislature,
Second, the amendment will allow bicycle paths and types of public utility lines to be located within the widths of specified highways that cross forest preserve land. The work on the bicycle paths and utility lines must minimize the removal of trees and vegetation. The amendment will allow a stabilization device (such as a guy wire) for an existing utility pole to be located near the width of a highway when necessary to ensure public health and safety and when no other viable option exists. The proposed amendment prohibits the construction of a new intrastate gas or oil pipeline that did not receive necessary state and local permits and approvals by June 1, 2016.