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History
- Referred to finance
- Referred to finance
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.
Repeals provisions of law restricting public access to records of the joint commission on public ethics and the legislative ethics commission
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Operations · Sponsor Nily Rozic
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S3241
Title of bill
An act to repeal subdivision 19 of section 94 of the executive law and subdivision 12 of section 80 of the legislative law, relating to records that are available for public inspection
Purpose
To require the Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Legislative Ethics Commission to comply with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and the Open Meetings Law.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill repeals subdivision 19 of section 94 of the Executive Law.
Section 2 of the bill repeals subdivision 12 of section 80 of the Legislative Law.
Section 3 of the bill is the effective date.
Justification
Under existing law, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) and the Legislative Ethics Commission (LEC) are expressly exempted from the requirements of government transparency laws, including the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and the Open Meetings Law.
This bill would subject JCOPE and the LEC to FOIL and the Open Meetings Law, allowing more transparency and access to information about the state's ethics watchdogs. FOIL and the Open Meetings Law contain sufficient protections to keep investigations and investigation-related activities exempt from public disclosure. The existing law is unnecessarily restrictive, and runs counter to the idea of open government.
In a February 2015 report, JCOPE included a specific legislative recommendation to consider whether its current exemption from FOIL and the Open Meetings Law should be modified to increase the transparency of JCOPE's operations, while still protecting the integrity of JCOPE's sensitive compliance and investigative functions.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
Minimal.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.