The state Senate and Assembly passed legislation Tuesday intended to protect victims of domestic violence and establish stronger criminal penalties for those who commit acts of domestic violence.

Highlights of the domestic violence legislation include:

• Establishing a domestic violence fatality review team to examine factors involved in deaths related to domestic violence;

• Expanding factors for bail consideration including prior violations of orders of protection;

• Creating a new felony-level crime of aggravated family offense, where the defendant and victim are members of the same family or household;

• Elevating the crime of harassment from a violation to a Class A misdemeanor, where the defendant and victim are members of the same family or household; and

• Prohibiting a person who was served with an order of protection or charged in the death of a decedent from controlling the disposition of the person’s remains.

“New York State treats this violence as a menace to health and safety,” said 47th District Senator Joe Griffo (R-Rome). “While it’s taken more changes to criminal and civil law sanctions to address the ongoing threat, doing more to stop the abuse meant improving existing policies to protect victims from injury and death. Today, we moved in that direction.

“It’s clear that children and adults continue to live in fear and suffer in silence,” Griffo said. “I can speak from seeing it in the communities that I represent; we are shocked when the abuse becomes public and become horrified when the stories end tragically. I’m pleased that Governor Cuomo shares this viewpoint and has expressed his unwavering support for this comprehensive measure.”

The governor is expected to sign the measure.