What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
History
- Referred to investigations and government operations
- Referred to investigations and government operations
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to vacancies occurring in the offices of United States senator, comptroller or attorney general and to repeal subdivision 4-a of section 42 of the public officers law relating thereto
Purpose or general idea of bill
To eliminate the unseemly and anti-democratic appointment of individuals by the Governor to vacant statewide offices in favor of special elections.
Summary of provisions
Amends sections 41 and 42 of the public officers law, to require that when there is a vacancy in the office of U.S. Senator, State Comptroller, or State Attorney General, the Governor order a special election to fill the unexpired term. The Governor would have up to 10 days to set the date for the special election, and would have to set the date for the election at 45 days after the vacancy occurred. If the vacancy occurs within 100 days of a general election, the special election would take place with the general election.
Justification
New Yorkers were recently witness to the unseemly process created by the Governor's power to appoint an individual to till a vacancy for one of the Statewide offices, in this case that of U.S. Senator, when Senator Clinton was appointed to the position of U.S. Secretary of State. The process was marked and marred by personal lobbying, much of it backroom, and by one of the more extensive recent efforts to publicly humiliate an individual and tarnish an otherwise sterling reputation. It was a sad day for New York. The recent inappropriate jockeying for the office of comptroller also lowered the dignity of that office. This legislation would replace these blemished processes of appointment by the Governor and the Legislature with a more democratic one, in which the people would have an opportunity to decide who should represent them in statewide offices.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications to state and local governments
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.