Surprising Bill-signing Blaz let laws take effect sans ink
More like unsigned-bill de Blasio.
The mayor signed a bill into law on Tuesday for the first time since mid-March — back when the mayor’s focus began to shift to his failed presidential campaign.
For the last eight months, de Blasio has opted out of approving legislation himself and allowed dozens of bills to become law without his signature. Until Tuesday, the mayor inked a single piece of legislation out of about 157 passed by the Council between Jan. 9 and Oct. 17 this year, and the rest went unsigned.
Under the City Charter, the mayor can’t sign Council legislation without first holding a public hearing, an involved process that can take hours and may have eaten into his busy schedule stumping for a new job in the White House.
If the mayor doesn’t hold a public hearing and sign or veto a bill within 30 days of its passage by the Council, the legislation “lapses” and automatically becomes law.
De Blasio officially entered the presidential race in in mid-May, though he traveled around the country to raise his national profile in the months leading up to the launch. He dropped out of the Democratic primary in September after months of low polling and lackluster fund-raising.
Between May 8 and Sept. 25, the Council passed 87 bills that de Blasio didn’t sign before they became law.
Asked how many bills the mayor has allowed to become law without his approval, de Blasio spokeswoman Avery Cohen said, “The strength or effectiveness of a law is not determined by whether it’s signed or lapses.”
On Tuesday, de Blasio held three public hearings on separate packages of legislation: seven bills related to animal welfare, including a ban on foie gras sales and limitations on horse carriages; four that would establish commercial waste zones and reform the industry; and a bill that requires the city to come up with a transportation “master” plan every five years.
He only signed the latter, which requires the city Transportation Department to implement 150 miles of new bus lanes, 250 miles of new protected bike lanes and thousands of pedestrian-oriented spaces over a five-year span beginning in 2022.
“All in a good day’s work,” de Blasio said with a grin when the hearings and signings ended after about 90 minutes.
De Blasio is also expected to sign the commercial waste zone legislation Wednesday.