What's happening
This bill requires the Secretary of State to annually compile and publicly update detailed information on all New York State boards.
Why it matters
Enhances transparency and public oversight. by requiring the state to make detailed information about the functions, membership, and activities of all state boards easily accessible online and updated annually.
Facilitates civic engagement and accountability. by publicly listing board vacancies, expiring terms, and the process for appointment, making it easier for interested individuals to participate in state governance and for watchdog groups to monitor appointments.
Improves government efficiency and coordination. by mandating consistent reporting from all boards and affiliated agencies, including financial information on compensation and expenses, which can inform policy decisions and resource allocation.
Enables legislative and executive review. by requiring regular status reports to state leadership, potentially leading to reforms, consolidation, or elimination of boards that are inactive, redundant, or inefficient.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Make State Boards Public
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 39
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Vetoed memo.160
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading cal.471
- Substituted for A473
- Referred to governmental operations
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 60–0
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.483
Show 1 earlier action
- 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.
List State Boards Online
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Amy Paulin
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2975
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 31, 2019
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to information on state boards
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 100-a to read as follows:
§ 100-a. Information on state boards. 1. As used in this section "board" means any board, commission, committee, council, task force or any similar state public organization, required to be established pursuant to state statutes or executive order, for the exercise of any function of state government and to which members are appointed or elected. "Board" does not include:
a. any informal advisory organization established exclusively by a state agency to advise the commissioner, secretary, or director of that agency on an informal basis;
b. any joint standing committee of the legislature or any committee of the assembly and/or senate composed entirely of members of the legislature;
c. any court;
d. the board of trustees of any institution of higher education financially supported in whole or in part by the state;
e. any entity of local government;
f. any public authority or public benefit corporation, a majority of whose members are appointed by the governor or serve as members by virtue of holding state offices to which they were appointed by the governor, or any combination thereof; and
g. any board of elections.
2. The secretary of state shall maintain a compilation of the membership and meeting information of all state boards, including state boards
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03770-01-9
S. 2975 2
established after the effective date of this section. The secretary of state must keep such inventory in a public record available for inspection, and updated annually on the department of state website. Such compilation shall include, but not be limited to:
a. statutory language, executive order or other legal basis for the establishment of such board;
b. public information including departmental affiliation, contact address, phone number, and website;
c. a brief description of the purpose of the board and its statutorily required duties, including required reports or other products;
d. the size of board membership, current member names, and any qualifications;
e. whether members of a board are eligible for payment of expenses or other compensation in the performance of their duties as members of that board;
f. dates and locations of all meetings held, and to be held within six months; and
g. any other information the secretary of state may require.
3. The secretary of state shall update on an annual basis beginning April first, two thousand twenty-two on the department of state website, all vacancies, expired terms, those terms expiring within one year, and the process for filling such vacancies on such boards.
4. Each board or the state agency that provides administrative support or is otherwise affiliated with a board shall annually on or before January first, submit to the secretary of state all information pursuant to this section in a manner specified by the secretary of state to facilitate the publication requirements of this section. Each submission shall also include information on compensation and expenses incurred in the prior and current fiscal years, as well as projected costs for the coming fiscal year.
5. The secretary of state shall receive from any department, division, board, bureau, commission or other agency of the state any information and resources as will enable him or her to properly carry out the purposes of this section.
6. On or before June first, two thousand twenty-two, the secretary of state shall report to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, the temporary president of the senate, the chair of the assembly oversight, analysis and investigation committee and the chair of the senate investigations and government operations committee on the status of the inventory including but not limited to the number of boards reported and verified; and the content and completeness of the information gathered in accordance with the requirements of this section. The secretary shall also report on any impediments to obtaining information.
§ 2. 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.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to information on state boards
Purpose or general idea of bill
To create a centralized compilation of information about state boards that will be available to the public.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Amends the executive law by adding a new section 100-A which defines "board" and requires the Secretary of State to maintain a compi- lation of the membership, duties, meeting and contact information, and products of all state boards. The Secretary of State must keep such inventory in a public record available on the Department of State website.
This section also provides that all boards, or the state agencies they advise, shall annually submit to the Secretary of State all information needed to facilitate these publication requirements, and that the Secre- tary of State must update the list annually.
This section provides that all boards, or the state agencies they advise, must also provide to the Secretary of State on an annual basis all costs associated with these boards for the prior year, and antic- ipated costs for the coming year. The public can then access this infor- mation upon request of the Secretary of State.
Finally, the Secretary of State is directed to report to the governor, speaker of the assembly, temporary president of the senate, chair of the assembly oversight, investigations and analysis committee, and chair of the senate investigations and government operations committee on the status of the inventory on or before June 1, 2020.
Section 2: Effective date.
Justification
No complete public inventory of state commissions, boards, councils, task forces, or similar bodies exists in New York. As a result, it is difficult, if not impossible, for New Yorkers to have an understanding of existing boards, their composition, purpose or legal responsibil- ities. The Committee on Oversight, Analysis & Investigation recently completed a review of more than one hundred statutorily authorized boards, task forces, and commissions. The review found that only about half have information online, only thirty percent listed public meet- ings, and only forty-five had percent contact information was readily available.
Forty-one states have some form of centralized compilation or list of state boards. This legislation would bring New York in line with the majority of states which already provide this information to their citi- zens and enable New Yorkers to easily find information about boards.
Overall, this is an important step in improving accountability and increasing government transparency. This information is critically important to enable oversight authorities to make recommendations on merging boards with duplicative duties and purposes or eliminate nonfunctioning boards. Since being vetoed in 2010, executive action through the SAGE Commission has helped address some of the issues but failed to reach the level of transparency that a list of all commissions would provide. Any costs for creating transparency far outweighed by the potential cost saving of consolidation and the positive societal bene- fits of transparency.
Legislative history
A.2568 of 2017 and 2018, referred to governmental operations. A.9458 of 2016, referred to governmental operations. A.1163, same as S.1622 of 2015 was vetoed. A.489A of 2013 and 2014 was referred to governmental operations. A.73A of 2012 was referred to governmental operations. A.10052A of 2010 passed both houses. S.2526 of 2013 and 2014, passed senate both years. S.24058, of 2012 passed senate. S.7369 of 2010 passed both houses. In 2010 the bill was vetoed, Veto No. 6807 of 2010.
Fiscal implications
Minimal
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the first of April next succeeding the date on which it becomes law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.