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History
- Referred to investigations and government operations
- Referred to rules
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.
Provides for the filling of vacancies in the office of lieutenant-governor by appointment of the governor subject to confirmation by the senate and assembly
In Assembly Committee · Judiciary · Sponsor William Magnarelli
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 filling vacancies in the office of lieutenant-governor
Purpose or general idea of bill
Provides a new method of filling vacancies in the office of the Lieutenant-Governor.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends the Public Officers Law by adding a new section 44 that would provide that in the case of a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant-Governor alone, the Governor shall nominate a new Lieutenant-Governor within 30 days of the vacancy, subject to confirmation by majority votes of both Houses of the Legislature independently. Such confirmation votes shall be held by each House within 30 days of the Governor's nomination.
Section 2 establishes an effective date.
Justification
In its 2009 decision in Skelos v. Paterson, the Court of Appeals ruled that the absence of a provision providing for a process to fill a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant-Governor in the State Constitution did not preclude a statute that did provide such a process. Currently, this then falls on Section 43 of the Public Officers Law, which is a "catch-all" section to fill all vacancies not covered by other sections. The office of Lieutenant-Governor is too important to leave to a generic section, particularly when this section does not allow for any Legislative input into the appointment of the second-highest ranking officer in the State. This bill would enact a system identical to that used under the Federal Constitution to fill a vacancy in the office of the vice-President. This process is also already in use in several states, including California, Colorado, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin, to fill vacancies in the office of Lieutenant-Governor. Requiring separate votes from each House of the Legislature, rather than a single vote in joint session, ensures that no single House has enough votes to confirm the nomination by itself.
Prior legislative history
Similar to S.6067 of 2009.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.