---
type: "Bill"
title: "Requires awarding of costs and attorney fees in frivolous action involving public petition and participation"
description: "Requires awarding of costs and attorney fees in frivolous actions involving public petition and participation; expands application of actions involving public petition and participation."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ny"
legislature: "New York Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "A 5991"
citation: "New York A 5991 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["WEINSTEIN"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 17
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2019-02-26"
last_action: "2020-11-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e15a78c1-60c1-464f-972d-37d6a472ddd1"
source_url: "http://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/A5991"
source_hash: "43707d79dd44d46202485465ef42a1e138142986d3c613762cbd9659e17a2bc9"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ny"]
---

# New York A 5991 (2019-2020) — Requires awarding of costs and attorney fees in frivolous action involving public petition and participation

Requires awarding of costs and attorney fees in frivolous actions involving public petition and participation; expands application of actions involving public petition and participation.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **A5991** (committee substitute) — [source](http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?sh=printbill&bn=A5991&term=2019&Text=Y)
2. **A5991A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2019/A5991A)

## Votes

- Floor Vote - Version: A — **57–3** (pass) · upper
- Assembly Vote — **116–26** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- WEINSTEIN — primary (person)
- ABINANTI — cosponsor (person)
- LUPARDO — cosponsor (person)
- OTIS — cosponsor (person)
- SEAWRIGHT — cosponsor (person)
- SIMOTAS — cosponsor (person)
- STECK — cosponsor (person)
- TAYLOR — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-26** REFERRED TO JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-30** REPORTED REFERRED TO CODES `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-04** REPORTED REFERRED TO RULES `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-11** REPORTED
- **2019-06-11** RULES REPORT CAL.143
- **2019-06-11** ORDERED TO THIRD READING RULES CAL.143
- **2020-01-08** ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.226
- **2020-04-02** AMENDED ON THIRD READING (T) 5991A `amendment-passage`
- **2020-07-21** PASSED ASSEMBLY `passage`
- **2020-07-21** DELIVERED TO SENATE
- **2020-07-21** REFERRED TO RULES `referral-committee`
- **2020-07-22** SUBSTITUTED FOR S52A
- **2020-07-22** 3RD READING CAL.757
- **2020-07-22** PASSED SENATE `passage`
- **2020-07-22** RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
- **2020-10-30** DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR `executive-receipt`
- **2020-11-10** SIGNED CHAP.250 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e15a78c1-60c1-464f-972d-37d6a472ddd1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New York legislature records).