What's happening
This bill repeals certain provisions in executive and legislative law related to records available for public inspection in New York.
Why it matters
Could reduce government transparency. By repealing specific provisions that make certain executive and legislative records available for public inspection, this bill might make it harder for the public and media to access important government information.
Impacts public oversight. Limiting access to these records could weaken the ability of citizens, watchdog groups, and journalists to monitor government actions and hold officials accountable for their decisions.
May affect trust in government. Restricting the availability of records might erode public confidence, as people may perceive that government processes are becoming less open and more difficult to scrutinize.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Open Ethics Records
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to ethics and internal governance
- Committee discharged and committed to ethics and internal governance
- 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.
Open Ethics Commission Records
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Operations · Sponsor Nily Rozic
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
445
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
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
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 19 of section 94 of the executive law is REPEALED.
§ 2. Subdivision 12 of section 80 of the legislative law is REPEALED.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01115-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
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 Execu- tive Law.
Section 2 of the bill repeals subdivision 12 of section 80 of the Legis- lative 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 suffi- cient protections to keep investigations and investigation-related activities exempt from public disclosure. The existing law is unneces- sarily restrictive, and runs counter to the idea of open government.
In a February 2015 report, JCOPE included a specific legislative recom- mendation 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
S.81 of 2017-2018 (Hoylman): Died in Finance A.3618 of 2017-2018 (Rozic): Died in Governmental Operations S.3241 of 2015-2016 (Hoylman): Died in Finance A.9504 of 2016 (Rozic): Died in Governmental Operations
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.