Establishes the empire state performance commission for the purpose of designing and advising the governor and the legislature on the implementation of a performance

The intent of the legislature in creating this co:mission is to have Legislation ready for passage in 2014 that implements a performance management and performance-budgeting system starting with the 2015-2016 budget.

Summary of specific provisions

This bill adds a new article 51 to the Executive Law, creating the Empire State Performance Commission.

The newly created section 1010 of the Executive Law establishes the purpose of the commission, which is to design a performance-budgeting and performance-management system for Now Tots State, and to advise the legislature and governor on the implementation of the designed system.

The newly created section 1011 of the Executive Law establishes the membership of the commission. The 15-member commission is chaired by the governor, and also contains the comptroller, the speaker of the assem- bly, the minority leader of the assembly, the chairman of the assembly ways and means committee, the president pro tempore of the senate, the minority leader of the senate, the chairman of the senate finance committee, one non-legislative citizen appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one non-legislative citizen appointed by the president pro tempore of the senate, the director of the division of budget, two exec- utive agency heads, and two non-legislative citizens appointed by the governor.

The newly created section 1012 of the Executive Law lays out the duties of the commission, which include designing a performance-budgeting and performance-management system for New York State, establishing a timeta- ble for implementing the system, providing advice to the legislature and governor on implementing the system, making recommendations on the peri- odic evaluation of the system, soliciting public input on the system, and producing legislation that would implement the system by March 1, 2014.

The newly created section 1013 of the Executive Law sets out the proce- dure of the commission's deliberations.

The newly created section 1014 of the Executive Law authorizes the commission to hire an executive director and directs the division of budget to provide staff assistance to the commission as necessary.

Justification

New York's lack of a comprehensive performance-budgeting scheme for state funded programs often leads to irregular appropriation practices and rigid across-the-board cuts, without regard to the programs' effec- tiveness. A performance-management and performance-budgeting system that ties program funding to the results the programs achieve would provide lawmakers with more flexibility in making budget decisions and provide the public with a means by which they can evaluate how their tax dollars are being spent.

Implementing and maintaining a comprehensive system of performance-man- agement and performance-budgeting is a complicated process that will require cooperation between the legislative and executive branches in order to be successful. Unilaterally imposing performance-management and performance budgeting requirements on executive agencies would likely be unproductive and ineffective. Reforming the state budget process requires careful deliberation that includes feedback from the various stakeholders in the process, including the public.

This bill creates a blue ribbon commission that will be charged with resigning a performance-management and performance-budgeting model for New York to adopt. The commission is structured to elicit input from both houses of the legislature, the governor, executive agencies, and the public. Additionally, it is expected that the commission will consult with performance-management and/or performance-budgeting experts, other state governments, and/or academic research on perfor- mance-management and performance-budgeting.

Prior legislative history

2010: S.7259 2011-2012: S.413A/A.9571

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.