Provides that the governor may within 180 days of taking office, remove members of boards of public authorities and fill vacancies created with his or her appointees

30 Multi-sponsors

• Alec Brook-Krasny
• Karim Camara
• Joan Christensen
• William Colton
• Vivian Cook
• Francine DelMonte
• RoAnn Destito
• Adriano Espaillat
• Ginny Fields
• Sandy Galef
• Michael Gianaris
• Deborah Glick
• Richard Gottfried
• Ellen C. Jaffee
• Hakeem Jeffries
• Susan John
• Brian Kavanagh
• Micah Kellner
• David Koon
• William Magnarelli
• Alan Maisel
• Margaret Markey
• Nettie Mayersohn
• Daniel O'Donnell
• Felix Ortiz
• N. Nick Perry
• Robert Reilly
• Peter Rivera
• Linda Rosenthal
• Mark J.F. Schroeder

BILL NUMBER:A254

Title of bill

An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to the terms of members appointed by the governor to boards of public authorities

Summary of provisions

This bill would amend the public authorities law by adding a new Sec. 2829: Appointments by governor; term.

Purpose

At the beginning of a new executive administration, the prior executive's public authority appointments will keep their position under the temporary condition of' service at the pleasure of the new governor' until reauthorized. The new governor will have 180 days (6 months) from the beginning of the new administration to review and replace all appointments. If not notified or replaced after the 180 days, the appointments will continue serving until the end of their statutory term. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent or limit the power of the governor to remove an appointment for cause.

Justification

The New York State Constitution prohibits the State from borrowing money without voter approval. To circumvent this procedure, public authorities were created to act as an independent revenue-gener- ating mechanism, borrowing money for a specific public purpose and a limited period of time. The members appointed to the public authority boards to execute the terms of the authority's objectives were originally deemed to be "non-partisan experts in their field" and the board's themselves "self-regulating." However, when an elected official controls the appointment process, politics naturally becomes an unin- tended consequence. In early 2008, the members of the NYS Thruway Authority's board of directors, appointed by a former Governor, decided to increase the tolls along the New York State Thruway without providing the newly elected executive with neither any proof of necessity nor consideration to the new executive's policy agenda. It became obvious that the board members were implementing a plan that was not to the benefit of the stakeholders but analogous to their [former] appointing authority's political agenda. This bill modifies the length of term of the preceding administration's appointees with the same terms and condi- tions as any other non-civil service government employee, "to serve at the pleasure of their appointing authority" until they have been reau- thorized or removed by the new executive administration.

Fiscal implications

NONE

Legislative history

A.9633-A: Held in committee for consideration

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to appointments made by the governor on or after such date.