CM Marte Pushes Bill to Protect Home Health Aide Workers—Again!

On the drizzly morning of Ash Wednesday Feb. 18, Council Member Christopher Marte and dozens of mostly Chinese home health aide workers, activists and allies gathered just north of Broadway side entry gate to City Hall to rally for a common cause they call “No More 24!” This exclamatory nickname is formally Int. 0303-2026, “A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to maximum working hours for home care aides.”

The issue for Marte is a personal one. His Dominican mother was a home health aide assigned to work in the Bronx and had to work 24 hour shifts, sometimes for days in a row, herself. This left the Marte family without its madre and wife, and did no favors to his mom’s own well-being either. These conditions, as dictated by certain home health aide agencies and allowed by state law, continue to present, and overwhelmingly affect immigrant women.

Why the problem persists is quite complex. Activist signs at this and prior events have scorned Governor Kathy Hochul (and Andrew Cuomo before her); now former Council Speaker Adrienne Adams; and the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), the powerful social services organization headquartered at 45 Suffolk St. Big labor, like the health care workers union 1199SEIU hasn’t been supportive of the “No More 24!” movement either though insiders suggest this has changed.

The two legislators joining Marte before he had to leave for a Council hearing at 10 a.m. were state Assembly Members Jessica Ramos and Ron Kim, both of Queens. Ramos, fresh from an Ash Wednesay blessing with a cross on her forehead, is a bilingual Columbian-American mom and an impressive speaker who ran for Mayor in 2025. When Ramos’ dropped out and endorsed Andrew Cuomo, she was excommunicated by the leftist Working Family Party for her apostasy. That Marte still associates with Ramos shows both his political independence and his understanding that the issue, while addressable at the local level, is also a state one.

Ron Kim, a Korean-American, won the Legislator Dad of the Day award for bringing along his three grade school-age daughters, one of whom, in the spirit of the Winter Olympics wore South Korean-flag ankle socks. Kim, whom Marte describes as a role model, is also an effective speaker even while holding an umbrella above his daughters heads.

“No More 24!”: What Does It Mean?

The legislation’s official summary explains where the “No More 24!” shout comes from: “This bill would set the maximum working hours that an employer may assign to a home care aide. Assigned hours would be limited to 12 hours for any shift, or within any 24-hours period. A home care aide could be assigned additional hours in the event of an emergency, but no more than 2 per day or 10 per week. Additionally, a home care aide could be assigned more than 56 hours in a week provided that the employer provides 2 weeks advanced notice and obtains written consent from the home care aide. This bill would also impose a notice requirement, under which employers would be required to provide home care aides with a copy of a form notice of rights.”

If this sounds like déjà vu all over again, it is, as this “No More 24!” law follows Marte’s prior attempt to address the issue, Int. 175-2022, which was introduced to City Council on April 14, 2022. Among its 13 other co-sponsors, District 10 CM Carmen De La Rosa was the sole Manhattanite. This time, there are 11 co-sponsors, with Harvey Epstein (District 2) and Elsie Encarnación (District 10, East Harlem), signing on, and De La Rosa dropping off. Among the others, some, mostly Progressive Caucus members from 2022 remain, while are others new.

One can’t judge a bill only by its co-sponsors, however. A solon’s absence from co-sponsoring a bill doesn’t automatically signal support or opposition; it might mean something, but often doesn’t. The important point is to get bills introduced and to get them committee hearings.

This occurred in September 2022, and hours of moving testimony to the Committee on Civil Service and Labor can be found on Legistar, the City Council’s highly detailed legislation tracker. Then, for more than three years, “No More 24!” languished, meaning that Council Speaker Adams didn’t advance the bill. Marte took to the court of public opinion, with many more rallies and protests following. In March 2025, Straus News joined the scrum, reporting on a recent flareup with the CPC.

A followup on the larger kerfuffle, reported by NY1, had two telling quotes. For his part, Marte said “We need this bill to get in the floor and I believe we have an overwhelming support of council members that will vote yes for this bill and we need it to happen.”

Speaker Adrienne Adams, who had announced she was running for Mayor on March 5, 2025 countered at the time: “This is a state issue, and it is counterproductive to misleadingly pretend that it can be resolved at the city level. The state controls Medicaid and determines the regulatory and payment policies of home care, which is why state legislation exists to address these problems. To deliver for home care workers, and the patients they care for, efforts should be focused in Albany, where changes can be implemented. It is unwise and deceiving for any elected official to state otherwise.”

Adams is currently the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor as the running mate of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Marte’s hope is that Council Speaker Julie Menin will be more receptive to the “No More 24!” legislation than her predecessor.