Establishes the New York state independent budget office

Summary of provisions

Adds a new article to the executive law to create and define the powers and duties of the New York State Independent Budget Office (NYSIBO).

Duties of the independent budget office shall include providing members and committees of the legislature information with respect to:

* the budget, appropriation bills and bills with fiscal implications;

* estimated revenues and receipts, and changing revenue conditions;

* the effectiveness of state agencies and programs; and

* to the extent practicable, other analyses requested by such officials or the general public. Specific responsibilities of the Independent Budget Office will include:

* completing a fiscal impact statement for any bill placed on an Assembly Ways and Means or Senate Finance committee agenda, to the extent possible;

* completing a fiscal impact statement on any bill at the request of the Speaker or Minority Leader of the Assembly or the Majority or Minority leader of the Senate;

* completing a fiscal impact statement at the request of committee chairs or ranking members for any bill referred to their respective committee;

* analyzing the executive budget by March 1st for the upcoming fiscal year and reporting their findings to the Assembly Ways and Means committee and Senate Finance committee;

* completing a fiscal impact statement at the request of committee chairs or ranking members for any bill referred to their respective committee;

* publishing a quarterly report that estimates revenue projections; and

* publishing a report by December 1st of each year that projects the fiscal outlook of the state for the next five years.

The office shall, to the extent practicable, develop proposals for cost effective alternatives to meet the public responsibilities of the state.

The office shall publish reports to enhance understanding of budget documents, revenues, expenditures, state management practices and related matters. All analyses and reports shall be made available for the public and shall be available electronically.

The director of the NYSIBO shall be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and Majority Leader of the Senate, based on the recommendations of a independent budget office advisory committee. The independent budget office advisory committee shall consist of one person appointed by each of the following officials:

* the chair and ranking member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee,

* the chair and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.

Six other members of the advisory committee shall be jointly appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and the Majority Leader of the Senate. The members appointed must include at least one expert in budget theory; one dean (or former) of a graduate school of business, public affairs or public administration in the state; one officer (or former) of a labor union; one officer (or former) to a business corporation; and one officer (or former) of a civic organization involved in budget matters.

The advisory committee shall develop guidelines for the best practices of the office and shall meet annually with the director to review the guidelines.

The director shall be appointed without regard to political affiliation for six-year terms. The director's salary shall be determined by the legislative budget office advisory committee.

Justification

Modeled after the highly successful Congressional Budget Office and the New York City Independent Budget Office, this legislation establishes a nonpartisan office to provide legislators with the objective information they need to make decisions regarding the budget.

Accurate, up-to-date information is a key ingredient for prudent, timely budgetary and public policy decisions. This newly created office will provide that to all state lawmakers.

Each year, the Independent Budget Office will provide all members of the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means committee with analyses of the executive budget by March 1st. This provides ample time for members to review the analyses before the budget deadline of April 1st.

New York City's Independent Budget has recently published reports on a wide range of issues including Budget Options for the City, Financing Plans for Stadiums, Debt Affordability Measures for the City and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Budget in Staten Island. As in New York City, the New York State Independent Budget Office will

provide legislators and the public with financial information covering varying issues.

All legislators, regardless of political affiliation will be able to utilize the services of the NYSIBO. As this will be a nonpartisan office, members of the Senate and Assembly will have access to the same data, analyses and information thereby helping to eliminate the yearly struggles that emerge over the disparities in both revenue and expenditures projections. This should in turn lead to an on-time budget based on sound fiscal policy.

All documentation from this office will be made available to the public in order to grant the public access to the same information as the legislature.

At least 23 other states including California, Texas, Florida, Connecticut and Vermont have already established non-partisan budget offices to assist their legislatures.

Legislative history

A.5925/S.3l37 of 2009/2010

Fiscal implications

The Independent Budget Office shall be funded by 10% of the appropriations available for the Division of Budget.

Effective date

Immediate.