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History
- Referred to health
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Pertains to the composition of county and part-county boards of health; relates to municipal consolidation or dissolution petitions
In Assembly Committee · Local Governments · Sponsor Sam Hoyt
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to the composition of county and part-county boards of health; and to amend the general municipal law, the town law and the village law, in relation to the petition requirements for initiating a referendum regarding municipal consolidation or dissolution
Purpose
To give certain counties the ability to streamline certain public health services and to provide a uniform municipal consolidation or dissolution petition process.
Summary of provisions
Section one amends section 351 of the public health law to allow the same person to be appointed as county health director, public health director or county health commissioner in counties that meet population requirements.
Section two amends the general municipal law by adding a new article 17-A - Municipal Consolidation or Dissolution Petitions.
Sections three through ten outlines the procedure for village, town and fire district consolidations or dissolutions.
Justification
The Governor's Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness issued a report outlining 72 recommendations for reforming local governments across New York State. This bill is the first attempt to accomplish the first flights of those recommendations. One of the key issues identified during the LGEC process was that there was not a simple and straightforward process for electors to petition for a consolidation of two or more governmental units It was also found that the burden of getting 60% of voters to approve such a petition was far too high to expect a consolidation to ever happen. In order to clarify the situation this bill cleans up the petition process and lowers the threshold for a petition seeking consolidation from 60% to 25%. It is hoped that this change will mean more active attempts for local governments to consider and then, upon showing of reason, consolidate.
The other major component present within the instant bill allows for the sharing of public health directors by multiple counties. It is hoped that by streamlining operations, cost savings can be realized.
Legislative history
2008: S.8582 Rules Committee
Fiscal implications
None to the State.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.