What's happening
This bill allows each New York legislator to bring one statewide bill of their choice directly to the floor for a vote every two years, bypassing committee review.
Why it matters
Gives every legislator—majority and minority—an equal chance to advance at least one major policy idea per term. , increasing individual legislative power and possibly elevating issues that leadership or committees might otherwise ignore.
Bypasses the traditional committee gatekeeping process. , which could mean controversial, innovative, or urgent bills get public debate and votes that might otherwise be stalled indefinitely in committee.
Could diversify the legislative agenda and increase transparency. , requiring lawmakers to publicly vote on a broader range of proposals and making it harder for party leaders to shield members from tough or unpopular votes.
May disrupt established power dynamics and party discipline. , as rank-and-file members gain leverage and leadership loses some control over what reaches the floor, potentially leading to more unpredictable legislative sessions.
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
One Bill Per Legislator
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- 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.
One Floor Vote for All
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Operations · Sponsor Mark C. Johns
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5833
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 2, 2017
Introduced by Sen. SAVINO -- 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 entitling each member of the legislature to bring one statewide piece of legislation of his or her choosing to the floor for a vote without a home rule message and committee review during each two-year term
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "single opportunity for legislative equality (SOLE) act".
§ 2. The legislative law is amended by adding a new section 33-a to read as follows:
§ 33-a. Entitlement to one statewide bill during each two-year term. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, during each twoyear term of the legislature, each member shall be entitled to have at least one statewide piece of legislation, of his or her choosing, exclusive of any bill accompanied by a home rule message, discharged from committee and brought to the floor for a vote. A member may bring such bill to the floor for a vote by filing a written notice with the clerk of senate desk operations or the index clerk of the assembly on a form provided by such clerk.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04401-01-7
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 entitling each member of the legislature to bring one statewide piece of legislation of his or her choosing to the floor for a vote without a home rule message and committee review during each two-year term
Purpose or general idea of bill
To allow each member of the Legislature, during each two-year term, to bring one substantive piece of legislation, of his or her choosing, to the floor for a vote.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 allows each member of the Legislature, during each two-year term, to choose to have one bill discharged from committee and brought to the floor for a vote by filing a form with the clerk of that member's respective House. Excludes any bill accompanied by a home rule message.
Section 2 contains effective date.
Justification
This legislation would require that during each two-year Legislative Term, each member would be entitled to have at least one substantive piece of legislation of his or her choosing discharged from committee and brought to the floor for a vote. All home rule legislation would be excluded. While this legislation seeks to bypass all other rules regarding the processing of a bill from committee to floor, it represents real reform that will benefit all the people of this State. A change such as this has been advocated by Legislators, the media and good government groups for years. Each year, many pieces of good legislation remain in committee without any consideration. Many of these bills contain good ideas that could pass into law if they only received a chance.
If every member of the Legislature delivers just one bill to the floor and has an opportunity to convince his or her colleagues of the merits of his or her legislation, then democracy would be truly served.
This legislation will let every Legislator's voice to be heard. If enacted, this would allow the citizens of every district in this State to hear their representative presenting a piece of legislation that is important to them.
Prior legislative history
2011-12: A9548/S6947 2013-14: A2747/S2519 2015-16: A4647A/S3965A 2017-18: A4195/S
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.