What's happening
This bill requires New York state agencies to annually report permit processing times and refund fees if applications are not processed promptly.
Why it matters
Increases transparency and accountability. by requiring agencies to publicly report average, shortest, and longest permit processing times by type, giving citizens and businesses clearer expectations and tools to compare agency performance.
Empowers applicants. by mandating that permit processing time statistics are printed directly on application forms, making the information easily accessible and potentially deterring agencies from excessive delays.
Provides a financial incentive for timely processing. by obligating agencies to refund all application fees if they take significantly longer (over 134% of the average prior year’s time) to process a permit, directly impacting agency practices and applicant costs.
Supports oversight and policymaking. by sending these reports to both the governor and legislature, equipping state leaders with data to identify problem areas and consider reforms on agency efficiency.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Require Permit Processing Transparency
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to governmental operations
- Referred to governmental operations
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.
Disclose Permit Processing Times
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Operations · Sponsor Terrence P. Murphy
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1639
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 12, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring state agencies which issue licenses, registrations, permits and/or certifications to annually report on the periods of time taken to process each application therefor
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "honesty in permit processing act".
§ 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 164-e to read as follows:
§ 164-e. License and permit application processing; annual reports. 1. For the purposes of this section:
(a) "Permit" shall mean any permit, license, certification, registration or approval issued by a state agency, which is required by law, rule or regulation.
(b) "State agency" shall mean any department, board, bureau, commission, division, authority, office, council or agency of the state.
2. Every state agency, which processes and issues one hundred or more permits during a calendar year, shall, on or before February fifteenth each year, issue and publish a report on its permit processing time periods during the preceding calendar year, which shall include, but not be limited to:
(a) the average time it took to process applications for each specific type of permit from the receipt of the application therefor until the issuance or denial of such permit; and
(b) the shortest and longest periods of time it took to process an application for each specific type of permit.
3. The report required by subdivision two of this section shall be submitted to the governor and the legislature, and be published and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02347-01-7
A. 1639 2
distributed, in both written and electronic forms, for access by the public. Each state agency shall post, on its internet homepage, the most recent report it has issued pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
4. The information compiled pursuant to subdivision two of this section, for each specific permit shall be printed on the cover page of the application for such permit.
5. Each state agency shall annually process applications for permits within a time period which is equal to or less than one hundred thirtyfour percent of the average time period for processing applications for that type of permit during the preceding calendar year. In any instance in which a state agency fails to process an application within such time period, such agency shall immediately refund to the permit applicant all charges and fees imposed as a condition of submitting such permit application.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the first of April next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.