James G. Skoufis

As chair of the Senate investigations committee, released a report on pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who handle drug benefits. It found they charge health plans more than they pay pharmacies and called for state regulation of the practice.

June 3, 2019Supports Healthcare Affordability

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Released a committee report on the CPV Valley power plant in Orange County. It found gaps in state permitting and improper relationships between the company and executive branch staff, and recommended ethics disclosure rules for firms seeking state business.

October 3, 2024Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring state health inspectors to run an infection control audit and checklist at nursing homes, with fines for homes that fail. It was signed as chapter 152 of 2022 after COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

March 18, 2022Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Voted yes on the state climate law that set targets for cutting greenhouse gases and building renewable power. The Senate passed it 41-21.

June 18, 2019Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Released a committee report on the CPV Valley power plant in Orange County. It found gaps in state permitting and improper relationships between the company and executive branch staff, and recommended ethics disclosure rules for firms seeking state business.

October 3, 2024Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law banning political advertising on or inside town, city and county buildings, vehicles and other public property. It was signed as chapter 666 of 2023.

November 17, 2023Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Released a committee report finding that the Orange County industrial development agency gave a company $2.25 million in tax breaks after the company told the agency it would add 50 jobs, having told a town planning board months earlier that it expected no job growth.

July 26, 2023Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring political committees to name themselves on the political ads they pay for. It was signed as chapter 87 of 2020.

April 17, 2020Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law letting the state comptroller audit groups that towns, cities and counties control, such as local development corporations. It was signed as chapter 710 of 2019.

December 20, 2019Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Released a nine-month committee report on New York's public authorities and local industrial development agencies. It found $282 billion in authority debt, weak oversight, and evidence of collusion over local tax breaks.

December 16, 2019Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring the real estate transfer tax form to name the people behind a limited liability company when such a company buys or sells a home. It was signed as chapter 297 of 2019.

September 13, 2019Supports Anti-Corruption

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law dropping the requirement that very small towns and villages keep an official website. It was signed as chapter 97 of 2025.

February 28, 2025Supports Government Efficiency

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Released a committee report reviewing the reports state agencies are required by law to produce. It found many were late, missing or never used, and recommended cutting the ones that serve no purpose.

December 29, 2021Supports Government Efficiency

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law letting the state comptroller audit groups that towns, cities and counties control, such as local development corporations. It was signed as chapter 710 of 2019.

December 20, 2019Supports Government Efficiency

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Released a nine-month committee report on New York's public authorities and local industrial development agencies. It found $282 billion in authority debt, weak oversight, and evidence of collusion over local tax breaks.

December 16, 2019Supports Government Efficiency

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring real estate brokers to use the same written screening steps for every prospective homebuyer, a response to reporting that agents treated buyers differently by race. It was signed as chapter 153 of 2022.

March 18, 2022Supports Housing Affordability

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the zombie property remediation act, which gives local governments faster ways to deal with abandoned, decaying houses left in limbo by stalled foreclosures. It was signed as chapter 682 of 2019.

December 18, 2019Supports Housing Affordability

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Voted yes on the 2019 tenant protection law, which tightened rent regulation statewide and limited how landlords can raise rents and evict tenants. The Senate passed it 36-26.

June 14, 2019Supports Housing Affordability

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring every school board to let students with disabilities take part in the high school graduation ceremony. It was signed on this date as chapter 410 of 2017.

November 29, 2017Supports Public Education Quality

Source: nyassembly.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law dropping the court filing fee for an extreme risk protection order, which takes guns from a person a judge finds dangerous. It was signed as chapter 428 of 2023.

September 15, 2023Supports Gun Control

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Voted yes on the gun licensing law New York passed in a special session after the Supreme Court struck down its old concealed carry rules. It set training requirements and barred guns from many public places. The Senate passed it 43-20.

July 1, 2022Supports Gun Control

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law letting doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and clinical social workers ask a court for an extreme risk protection order, which takes guns from a person found to be a danger. It was signed as chapter 208 of 2022.

June 6, 2022Supports Gun Control

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Voted no on the New York SAFE Act, the gun law passed days after the Newtown school shooting. It expanded the assault weapon ban, capped magazines and required background checks on private sales. The Assembly passed it 104-43.

January 15, 2013Opposes Gun Control

Source: nyassembly.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law letting the state elections board join a multistate group that cross-checks voter rolls, and requiring New York to join one by July 31, 2026. It was signed as chapter 630 of 2025.

December 12, 2025Supports Election Integrity

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring New York's presidential electors to cast their votes for the candidates their party nominated. It was signed as chapter 476 of 2023.

September 20, 2023Supports Election Integrity

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring the state to publish congressional, senate, assembly and election district maps as files that mapping software can open. It was signed as chapter 89 of 2023.

March 3, 2023Supports Election Integrity

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law barring a political party from using the words Independent or Independence in its name, on the argument that voters confused the old Independence Party with being unaffiliated. It was signed as chapter 671 of 2022.

December 9, 2022Supports Election Integrity

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring political committees to name themselves on the political ads they pay for. It was signed as chapter 87 of 2020.

April 17, 2020Supports Election Integrity

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Voted yes on the SAFE for Kids Act, which bars social media companies from feeding algorithm-driven content to minors without a parent's consent. The Senate passed it 61-0.

June 6, 2024Supports Data Privacy

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Voted yes on the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which lets a terminally ill adult ask a doctor for medication to end their own life. The Senate passed it 35-27.

June 9, 2025Supports Civil Rights

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law replacing the phrase mentally retarded throughout New York law with developmentally disabled. It was signed as chapter 370 of 2023.

September 14, 2023Supports Civil Rights

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Voted yes on the Clean Slate Act, which automatically seals many old criminal convictions after a waiting period so they no longer show up in most background checks. The Senate passed it 37-25.

June 9, 2023Supports Civil Rights

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring real estate brokers to use the same written screening steps for every prospective homebuyer, a response to reporting that agents treated buyers differently by race. It was signed as chapter 153 of 2022.

March 18, 2022Supports Civil Rights

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law creating a state chief disability officer to speak for New Yorkers with disabilities across state government. It was signed as chapter 170 of 2022.

March 18, 2022Supports Civil Rights

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law increasing the fair housing and anti-discrimination training real estate agents must complete to keep their license. It was signed as chapter 90 of 2022.

February 24, 2022Supports Civil Rights

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Voted yes on the HALT Act, which limited solitary confinement in New York prisons and jails to 15 days and barred it for young, old and disabled prisoners. The Senate passed it 42-21.

March 18, 2021Supports Civil Rights

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring restaurants, hotels and similar businesses to turn on closed captioning for deaf and hard of hearing customers who ask. It was signed as chapter 295 of 2019.

September 13, 2019Supports Civil Rights

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Voted no on the Green Light law, which let people living in New York without legal immigration status get a standard driver's license. The Senate passed it anyway, 33-29.

June 17, 2019Opposes Civil Rights

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring every school board to let students with disabilities take part in the high school graduation ceremony. It was signed on this date as chapter 410 of 2017.

November 29, 2017Supports Civil Rights

Source: nyassembly.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law penalizing the use of ticket buying software that snaps up concert seats for resale, and raised the fines for it. It was signed as chapter 358 of 2022.

June 30, 2022Supports Corporate Accountability

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Wrote the law requiring state health inspectors to run an infection control audit and checklist at nursing homes, with fines for homes that fail. It was signed as chapter 152 of 2022 after COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

March 18, 2022Supports Corporate Accountability

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

As chair of the Senate investigations committee, released a report on pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who handle drug benefits. It found they charge health plans more than they pay pharmacies and called for state regulation of the practice.

June 3, 2019Supports Corporate Accountability

Source: nysenate.gov · researched September 20, 2026

Took on the added post of deputy majority leader for state-federal relations in the State Senate, alongside his chairmanship of the investigations committee.

January 27, 2025

Source: wamc.org · researched September 20, 2026

Ended his own campaign for chair of the Democratic National Committee and endorsed Ken Martin, the Minnesota party chair, who went on to win the post.

January 16, 2025

Source: wamc.org · researched September 20, 2026

Spoke against New York City congestion pricing at the Harriman train station, saying Orange County commuters have no direct train into Manhattan and few other ways to get there. Hudson Valley lawmakers asked for the toll to be blocked or for their drivers to be exempted.

February 5, 2024

Source: wskg.org · researched September 20, 2026