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New York State lawmaker is our June Legislator of the Month

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Legislator of the Month June graphic

State Senator Alessandra Biaggi receives recognition for her work to make New York cruelty free

Each month, we nominate a legislator or parliamentarian to celebrate the work they do for animals in laboratories. This month, our award goes to State Senator Alessandra Biaggi for her work to end animal testing for cosmetics in New York.

The New York Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act (A5653-B/S4839), introduced by Senator Biaggi and Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, which will prohibit the sale in the State of New York of any cosmetic product that has been newly tested on animals, has now successfully passed the Assembly and the Senate and awaits final consideration by Governor Kathy Hochul.

Senator Biaggi said, “Advocates have demanded cosmetic companies stop using animals to test their products for years, and it is long past time for New York State to join the thirty countries that have already outlawed animal testing.

Results of a February 2022 poll of New York State-registered voters conducted by the Siena College Research Institute show that New Yorkers are against using animal testing to develop cosmetics and would prefer to buy cosmetics not tested on animals. The poll indicated that voters are supportive of a law that would prohibit the sale of newly animal-tested cosmetics in the state and revealed that there is broad agreement on this issue across political affiliation, region, ethnicity, age, and income.*

If signed into law, the New York Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act would see the state join California, Nevada, IllinoisHawaii, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Maine in prohibiting the sale of cosmetics tested on animals.

Our Head of Public Affairs in North America, Monica Engebretson, said, “States often serve as a testing ground for new ideas that are later adopted nationwide, and this certainly seems to be holding true for this issue. The overwhelming support for the New York Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act creates even more momentum for federal action to end animal testing for cosmetics in the US.”

We are thankful to Senator Biaggi for her humane leadership.

If you live in New York, you have the chance right now to do something amazing for animals – use our quick tool to urge Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the bill into law!

If you are not a New York resident, please take action to support the federal Humane Cosmetics Act.

If you are a national of a member state of the European Union, please sign to end animal testing in Europe.

* Poll crosstabs available upon request.