Regional Briefs – July 25, 2019

Official Won’t Resign Over Posts on 2 Muslim Reps, Islam

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey school board member is refusing to resign or apologize for disparaging two Muslim congresswomen and Islam on social media.

Dan Leonard said at a Toms River school board meeting Wednesday he has a right to free speech as over a dozen speakers chastised him for his social media posts.

NY to Require Greater Public Notification of Data Breaches

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state is strengthening a law requiring companies that handle consumers’ personal data to notify them about any data breaches.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, on Thursday signed legislation that expands the law to cover any company holding personal data belonging to a New Yorker, and not just companies doing business in the state.

The new law, which takes effect in 240 days, will also add email addresses and passwords and biometric data to the list of information covered by the law.

NY Debt Collectors Out of Business, Face $66M in Penalties

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Two upstate New York debt collectors are banned from the business and expected to pay millions of dollars to settle allegations they inflated debts and threatened consumers.

State Attorney General Letitia James announced the settlements with Douglas MacKinnon and Mark Gray and their companies Thursday. Both men were named in a 2016 federal complaint by the state and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Cuomo Heads to Governors’ Meeting in Utah

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Andrew Cuomo headed to Utah for a meeting of the nation’s governors.

New York’s chief executive left Thursday for the brief trip to Salt Lake City, host to the 2019 National Governors Association summer meeting.

Cuomo, a Democrat, plans to participate in conference events on Friday before returning to New York later that night.