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History
- Referred to elections
- Referred to elections
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.
Requires propositions authorizing creation of a state debt to contain an estimate of the debt service payable and publish an explanation thereof
In Assembly Committee · Ways And Means · Sponsor James Tedisco
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S4541
Title of bill
An act to amend the election law and the state finance law, in relation to requiring proposition authorizing the creation of a state debt to contain an estimate of the debt service payable thereon and requiring publication of an explanation thereof
Purpose
This bill would provide the voting public with more accurate information regarding the overall costs of any proposed bond acts by requiring that the ballot proposition include information on the length of the amortization period and the total expected debt service.
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill adds a new § 7-112 to the Election Law to require that any ballot proposition creating a state debt shall contain an estimate of the length of the amortization period and the total expected debt service payments. Section two of the bill amends § 4-116 of the Election Law to incorporate such reference in ballot publication requirements. Section three of the bill adds a new § 6 to the State Finance Law to require that any state publications promoting awareness of, or explaining the provisions of, any such ballot proposition shall include the information on the amortization period and total amount of debt.
Existing law
Ballot propositions to incur state debt must currently list only the principal amount of the proposed debt.
Justification
Current law provides that ballot propositions must show the principal amount of proposed debt. However, this is misleading, since the actual taxpayer cost of any new debt will also include the interest to be paid. On long term debt, interest payments can more than double the principal amount. State publications often play an important role in educating the public about ballot issues. Accordingly, these should show the true total cost of any new debt.
Fiscal implications
None
Legislative history
This legislation was passed by the Senate each year from 1993 to 2008.
Effective date
Immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.