Graphic tobacco-style warnings for guns? New York could consider it.

And the U.S. Supreme Court won't hear challenge to New York investigative records law.

Good afternoon — It’s Monday and Barbie Day.

👋Timothy Fanning here, filling in for Dan Clark, who is out today.

In today’s CapCon:

• The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case centered on a requirement that state agencies and medical facilities to turn over records.

• Two freshmen lawmakers have a proposal to add tobacco-style graphic warnings to gun dealerships.

• Video streaming services would be subject to a new tax in New York under a new bill introduced in the state Legislature.

• This Week in New York History: Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony.

Names in today’s CapCon: Erik Bottcher, Tom Knight, Keith Powers, Richard Ball, Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony.

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Heather Diehl/Getty Images

🏛️ Supreme Court won’t hear abuse records case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case brought by Disability Rights New York, which challenged New York’s ability to withhold certain internal health care records from federal abuse investigators.

The court denied the organization’s Jan. 12 petition for a writ of certiorari, leaving in place a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that sided with the New York Department of Health in the legal dispute.

The case centered on whether the federal Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act requires state agencies and medical facilities to turn over records to federally designated protection and advocacy organizations, even when those documents are shielded by state peer review or quality assurance confidentiality laws.

Disability Rights New York is the state’s federally mandated protection and advocacy system and is responsible for investigating abuse, neglect and deaths involving people with mental illness in hospitals, residential facilities and other care settings.

As part of those investigations, the organization sought records from the state Department of Health, including adverse event reports and internal quality improvement documents related to incidents at licensed facilities.

State officials refused to provide the materials, citing confidentiality protections contained in New York’s education and health laws, which protect internal medical review and quality assurance records from disclosure in order to encourage candid evaluations of patient care without fear of the information being used later in litigation.

In its petition to the Supreme Court, the advocacy group argued that the Second Circuit’s ruling improperly allowed state law to override federal protections designed to ensure independent oversight of facilities serving people with mental illness.

The organization also urged the justices to resolve what it described as a “deep and mature” split among federal appeals courts.

In its petition, Disability Rights New York warned that allowing facilities to label documents as privileged could prevent investigators from identifying systemic neglect or failures that contribute to patient harm or deaths.

An artificial intelligence rendering of a proposed gun shop graphic (Provided by Sen. Erik Bottcher)

🔫 Freshman lawmakers want tobacco-style warnings in gun shops

A month into the job, and straight into Albany’s most hectic season, two freshman New York lawmakers are attempting to make their first legislative mark.

After arriving at the Capitol in early February, soon after budget negotiations ramped up, the former New York City council members have introduced their debut bill: a statewide proposal requiring gun dealers to display graphic warning signs about the dangers of firearms in stores, similar to those mandated on tobacco products.