What's happening
This bill requires fiscal impact statements for most state bills affecting state or local government finances, detailing estimated costs or savings.
Why it matters
Increases transparency and accountability. By mandating detailed fiscal impact statements for most bills affecting state or local finances, the public and lawmakers can better understand the potential budgetary effects—making it harder to pass costly or underfunded mandates without scrutiny.
Improves legislative decision-making. Lawmakers will receive clear, standardized estimates of costs or savings (including sources of those estimates) for three years after a bill's adoption, allowing them to make more informed choices about the trade-offs and sustainability of proposed policies.
Protects the legislative process from technical errors. The bill specifies that inaccuracies in the fiscal estimates won’t legally invalidate a law, ensuring that the legislative process isn’t derailed by imperfect forecasts while still encouraging best-effort projections.
Clarifies scope and exceptions. The bill defines what types of legislation require fiscal notes and lists exceptions (such as bills with only discretionary authority or those accompanied by special local requests), thereby focusing the requirement on measures most likely to have significant financial impacts.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require Three-Year Fiscal Notes
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to investigations and government operations
- Referred to investigations and government 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.
Require Three-Year Fiscal Projections
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Operations · Sponsor Sandy Galef
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2324
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 13, 2017
Introduced by Sens. GRIFFO, DeFRANCISCO, FUNKE, GALLIVAN, LARKIN, RANZENHOFER, SERINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations
AN ACT to amend the legislative law, in relation to fiscal impact notes on bills and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 51 of the legislative law is REPEALED and a new section 51 is added to read as follows:
§ 51. Fiscal impact notes on bills affecting the state or political subdivisions. 1. As used in this section:
(a) the term "political subdivision" means any county, city, town, village, special district or school district, or any agency, authority, commission, department or instrumentality thereof.
(b) the term "qualifying bill" means any bill or amendment to a bill filed on or after the effective date of this section which establishes or eliminates a state program, significantly changes services required to be provided by such program, or results in a change in revenues or expenses of the state or any political subdivision.
2. Before discharging qualifying bills from consideration, the senate finance committee or the assembly ways and means committee shall prepare for each such bill a fiscal impact statement clearly detailing the estimated cost or savings entailed by such bill to the state and affected political subdivision for the three fiscal years following adoption of such bill. Such fiscal impact statement shall also provide the source or sources of such estimates.
3. A fiscal impact statement required to be prepared under this section shall be made and shall remain a part of the bill it describes, and shall be affixed to the bill before it is laid upon the members' desks for consideration.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05153-01-7
S. 2324 2
4. In determining the fiscal impacts of a bill, the senate finance committee and assembly ways and means committee shall estimate such impacts on the basis of any or all of the following:
(a) individual political subdivisions;
(b) aggregates of political subdivisions either statewide or by a lesser geographic area;
(c) representative political subdivisions with relevant characteristics such as population, area, average income, weighted average daily attendance of pupils, or any other relevant characteristics appropriate to the estimate; or
(d) any other appropriate, convenient or accessible grouping of characteristics or political subdivisions.
5. Estimated or actual fiscal impacts disclosed under this section shall be reported in units of money, services, personnel, equipment, or any other appropriate, convenient or accessible unit or units of measurement.
6. If the estimates contained in a fiscal impact statement are inaccurate, such inaccuracies shall not affect, impair or invalidate such bill.
7. Fiscal impact statements shall not be required for bills: (a) subject to the provisions of section fifty of this article, or (b) accompanied by special home rule requests submitted by each affected political subdivision, or (c) which provide only discretionary authority to political subdivisions, or (d) submitted pursuant to section twentyfour of the state finance law.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January 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.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to fiscal impact notes on bills and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto
Purpose
To expand disclosure requirements for fiscal impact notes attached to proposed legislation.
Summary of provisions
Repeals sections 51 of the legislative law and inserts a new section 51 to require the standing committees of the senate and assembly, prior to reporting a bill, to append to such bill a fiscal impact note describing anticipated economic impacts of such bill to the state and any political subdivision for the three fiscal years following enactment of such legislation.
Justification
This Legislature considers many thousands of bills each session, many of which entail direct or indirect fiscal impacts on political subdivisions of the state. The legislative law requires sponsors of bills to describe their fiscal impacts in sponsors' memoranda. These brief statements often fail to identify the anticipated economic impacts of legislative proposals. As a result, members vote on bills about which they may have only partial information, causing state and local finances to be managed in an uncertain mariner.
The state of California, operating in a political and economic environment similar to that of New York, requires most legislative proposals to undergo objective analyses of expected fiscal impacts for each of three fiscal years following implementation. The California Assembly and Senate attach to all legislation explicit fiscal memoranda prepared by the fiscal committees of the respective legislative houses and distributed to committees and lawmakers when bills come before them. This bill is based on regulations in California and other states governing disclosure of fiscal impacts.
Under this chapter, the standing committee to which a bill is referred must, prior to reporting such bill, prepare an objective fiscal statement detailing the economic impact of the bill on the state, county or local governments, school districts or any other political entities which the bill may affect. This statement, prepared with the advice of the appropriate fiscal committee of that house, will be attached to the bill when reported by the standing committee, and will remain a part of the bill throughout the legislative process. This will help lawmakers make fully considered decisions on managing the legislative and economic affairs of the state.
This bill does NOT require cost-benefit analysis, nor govern regulations promulgated by state agencies. Rather, this bill simply requires a frank description of the economic impacts of bills to be given to lawmakers to help them balance social and economic priorities. Lawmakers should know what expense or savings will result from enacting legislation put before them. Expanding fiscal note analysis and disclosure accomplishes this important precursor to sound fiscal management.
Legislative history
2015-16 - S. 2272 - Investigations & Government Operations Committee/A. 4390 Governmental Operations Committee. 2013-14 - S. 1968 - Investigations & Government Operations Committee/A. 3480 Governmental Operations Committee.
Fiscal implications
Potential savings to the state and its political subdivisions through more complete disclosure of proposed expenditure prior to adopting bills with fiscal impacts.
Effective date
First of January next succeeding the date the bill becomes a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.