Relates to the sharing of information of certain employment data with state and municipal agencies and certain local development corporations

Section 2 provides that the bill take effect immediately.

Justification

This bill would clarify the authority of the State Department of Labor to disclose to state and municipal agencies, including agencies of the City of New York, certain employment data gathered by the State Department of Labor and the State Department of Taxation and Finance from employers in New York State. This employment data was shared with the City of New York from 1989 to 2003 and was crucial to City agencies' ability to perform analyses, such as the evaluation of economic development strategies, important to the ongoing vitality of the City. In 2004, the State Department of Labor determined that it was not statutorily authorized to share this employment data. Lack of access to this data has increasingly impeded several City agencies' ability to generate the accurate and detailed analyses necessary to the development of sound economic, fiscal, environmental and land use policies.

The employment data, the analyses of that data and the policies and programs that grew out of those analyses contributed directly to strength of the City's economy and the welfare of its citizens.. As noted, New York City agencies were recipients of this employment data for many years. The proposed bill, by clarifying the State Department of Labor's statutory authority to share the employment data, will merely restore the pre-2004 status quo. In addition, the confidentiality of the data will be secure. Under N.Y. Labor Law § 537(g)(i), the Commissioner has the authority to require that requesting agencies sign agreements requiring that the data be kept confidential. Furthermore, requesting agencies will be required to demonstrate to the Commissioner's satisfaction that the agencies have adequate security safeguards in place to avoid any unauthorized disclosure.

Without this crucial data, the activities and effectiveness of several City agencies would be significantly hampered. For example, this data enables the Department of City Planning to analyze the socioeconomic impacts of actions requiring environmental review pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act ("SEQRA") and the City Environmental Quality Review (the "CEQR"); it enables the Department of Small Business Services to target businesses for which direct assistance is appropriate, to promote financial and economic opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses, and to provide New Yorkers with workforce development opportunities, including employment training; it enables the City's Office of Management and Budget to analyze proposed legislation for its cost and revenue implications and to forecast the tax revenues that the City's economy will generate; and it enables the Economic Development Corporation to evaluate an industry's strength in a particular neighborhood, to determine the nature of existing businesses that could be displaced as part of a development project, and to identity specific locations that serve as focal points for particular industries. Lack of access to this data would have far reaching effects in terms of the City's overall economic health and on the welfare of its individual citizens. The proposed bill would enable them to perform the sophisticated analyses that are essential to their mission.

Legislative history

A.8346/S.6097 of 2007-2008 - Referred to Labor in Assembly and Rules in the Senate

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

Immediately.