Bill Text: NY A10651 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Adds a new article V-A relating to state government integrity.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-07 - opinion referred to judiciary [A10651 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A10651-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10651 IN ASSEMBLY May 10, 2018 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Governmental Operations CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing that the constitution be amended by adding a new article V-A; in relation to state government integrity 1 Section 1. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the constitution be 2 amended by adding a new article V-A to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE V-A 4 STATE GOVERNMENT INTEGRITY 5 Sec. 6 1. Declarations of the people. 7 2. New York state government integrity commission. 8 3. Additional powers of the commission. 9 4. Funding of the commission. 10 5. State code of ethics. 11 6. Recommending revisions of campaign contribution limits. 12 7. Transparency. 13 Section 1. a. The people of New York expect officers and employees of 14 the state to observe laws, rules and regulations that specify high stan- 15 dards of ethical conduct designed to avoid the reality and appearance of 16 corruption, conflict of interest, self-dealing and breach of the public 17 trust. Equally they expect that candidates for state office and others 18 seeking to influence state elections to observe laws, rules and regu- 19 lations designed to regulate actual and potential corruption and 20 conflicts of interest by regulating the influence of money in politics 21 and making transparent the financing and expenditures of efforts to 22 influence voters. To protect the integrity and freedom from corruption 23 of the use of state power to enact laws, establish rules and regu- 24 lations, and contract for goods and services funded in whole or in part 25 with state taxes and other revenues, the people of New York expect 26 observance of laws, rules and regulations that regulate lobbying, lobby- 27 ists and government procurement. To ensure the appropriate workplace 28 conduct of state officers and employees and those who interact with such 29 officers and employees while dealing with the state and its instrumen- 30 talities, the people of New York expect that all such persons will 31 observe laws, rules and regulations setting standards of appropriate and 32 non-discriminatory workplace behavior. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD89139-02-8A. 10651 2 1 b. Achieving this goal requires an independent and non-partisan agency 2 with jurisdiction over matters pertaining to both the legislative and 3 executive branches of government and that has the needed powers to 4 train, advise, interpret, adopt rules and regulations, investigate, 5 conduct fair hearings that afford due process and impose appropriate 6 sanctions on a consistent basis so that, with fair and equal application 7 of the law, no person or entity, no matter what their status, influence 8 or role in government, can place themselves above the law or suffer 9 detriment due to any lack of such status, influence or role. 10 § 2. a. There shall be a New York state government integrity commis- 11 sion. The commission shall, on an independent and non-partisan basis, 12 receive, initiate, investigate and determine complaints with respect to 13 the matters specified in section one of this article. This jurisdiction 14 shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the investigatory, 15 disciplinary, vendor qualification or law enforcement authority of any 16 other person or entity and of the right of an aggrieved person to seek 17 civil redress in accordance with law. The commission may in its 18 discretion decline to initiate, or suspend initiation of proceedings, or 19 otherwise adjust its procedures, in view of such other proceedings 20 undertaken or able to be undertaken by such other person or entity. 21 b. When, after hearing, the commission has determined that the 22 respondent has violated a law, rule or regulation within the commis- 23 sion's jurisdiction to enforce, the commission may impose any civil 24 sanction authorized by law and/or refer the matter for criminal prose- 25 cution. The commission may also caution, admonish or censure such 26 respondent or, in the case of a non-elected state officer or employee, 27 suspend, demote or remove such respondent from office or employment 28 after such adjudicatory process that substantially complies with the 29 terms of any relevant collective bargaining agreement. In deciding the 30 severity of the sanction, the commission shall consider to what extent 31 the violation is inadvertent, isolated and/or of insubstantial conse- 32 quence on the one hand or willful, repeated, causing actual public harm 33 or risk of public harm and/or otherwise egregious on the other. Determi- 34 nations, other than a determination to refer for criminal prosecution, 35 shall be subject to judicial review in accordance with law except that 36 determinations to admonish, censure or remove an official elected to 37 office by vote of the people shall be subject to being disapproved or 38 reduced by a majority of the members of either house of the legislature 39 voting promptly and separately. If the determination is one of admoni- 40 tion or censure, that determination shall be subject to being increased 41 to censure or removal on the vote of two-thirds of the members of both 42 houses of the legislature voting promptly and separately. 43 c. The commission shall consist of nine members, of whom two shall be 44 appointed jointly by the governor, the attorney general and the comp- 45 troller, at least one of whom shall not be, or within the prior five 46 years shall not have been, enrolled in the same political party as the 47 governor, one jointly by the leaders in each house of the legislature of 48 the party conferences whose candidate for governor in the most recent 49 gubernatorial election received the largest number of votes, one jointly 50 by the leaders in each house of the legislature of the party conferences 51 whose candidate for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election 52 received the second largest number of votes, and five jointly by the 53 chief judge of the state of New York and the presiding justices of each 54 of the appellate divisions, no more than three of whom shall be, or 55 within the prior five years shall not have been, enrolled in the same 56 political party. No member of the commission shall have held office inA. 10651 3 1 any political party organization, have been a state officer or employee 2 or have been engaged as a lobbyist within three years of appointment or 3 at any time during their term. The chair shall be elected by the commis- 4 sion members from among its members. Commission members shall be reim- 5 bursed for their actual expenses and paid a per diem salary to be fixed 6 by law but at least a per diem amount equal to the annual salary paid to 7 a justice of the supreme court divided by two hundred twenty. A member 8 may be removed for cause on application to the court of appeals made by 9 a majority vote of the full membership of the commission. 10 d. The persons first appointed by the governor, the attorney general 11 and the comptroller shall have respectively three and four-year terms as 12 those officials shall designate. The persons first appointed by the 13 chief judge of the state of New York and the presiding justices of the 14 appellate divisions shall have respectively one, two, three, three, and 15 four-year terms as that judge and those justices shall designate. The 16 person first appointed jointly by the legislative leaders in each house 17 of the legislature of the party conferences whose candidate for governor 18 received the largest number of votes shall have a one-year term. The 19 person first appointed jointly by the legislative leaders in each house 20 of the legislature of the party conferences whose candidate for governor 21 received the second largest number of votes shall have a two-year term. 22 Each member of the commission shall be appointed thereafter for a term 23 of four years. 24 e. The organization and procedure of the commission shall be as 25 provided by law provided that the commission shall act by majority vote 26 of its membership in attendance and constituting a quorum and determine 27 violations based on a preponderance of the evidence except that any 28 order of censure or removal shall be based on clear and convincing 29 evidence and shall be approved by a majority of all the members of the 30 commission. The commission may establish its own rules and procedures 31 not inconsistent with law and due process. Those rules shall bar ex 32 parte communications of any kind or substance, direct or indirect, 33 between members of the commission and their appointing authority and 34 such rule shall bind both the member, the commission staff, the appoint- 35 ing authority and the staff, agents and representatives of the appoint- 36 ing authority. The commission shall be empowered to designate one or 37 more of its members or any other persons as hearing officers to hear and 38 report concerning any matter before the commission. 39 § 3. a. The commission many appoint an executive director, who may 40 appoint staff, and one or more deputy directors with such duties and 41 powers as the commission may fix. No person who would be disqualified 42 from being a member of the commission may be appointed as executive 43 director except that a person employed at the commission shall not be 44 disqualified by reason of that employment. 45 b. The commission and its designated hearing officers shall have the 46 power to administer oaths, compel the attendance of witnesses and issue 47 subpoenas. 48 c. The commission shall assure the effective enforcement and adminis- 49 tration of the state ethics laws including the code of ethics, laws 50 providing for disclosure of financial and other interests by state offi- 51 cers and employees, the laws regulating lobbying and lobbyists and the 52 laws concerning campaign finance. The commission shall take care that 53 laws respecting procurement of goods and services by the state are 54 faithfully observed as are laws respecting workplace behavior. This 55 authority shall include the power and duty to interpret laws adminis- 56 tered by the commission, to train all persons within the commission'sA. 10651 4 1 jurisdiction in compliance with the laws, rules and regulations adminis- 2 tered or enforced by the commission and to issue and interpret rules and 3 regulations that are not in conflict with law. 4 d. The commission may make a criminal prosecution referral to a 5 district attorney, the attorney general or a United States attorney. 6 e. The commission, after notice and opportunity for public comment, 7 may issue advisory opinions or bulletins which will have such protective 8 effect on those who act in compliance therewith as is specified in the 9 opinion or bulletin. It shall also establish an office of ethics guid- 10 ance to give informal advice to persons whose conduct it oversees. 11 § 4. The state shall annually appropriate an amount adequate to 12 support the commission's discharge of its fiduciary duty to the people. 13 In no event shall the appropriation for the work of the commission be 14 less than ten percent of the appropriation to the state law department. 15 § 5. a. The commission shall periodically review the state code of 16 ethics and may propose revisions and amendments to the code. The state 17 code of ethics, and any revision or amendment thereto, shall be drafted 18 and construed to eliminate conduct that creates an appearance of 19 corruption, conflicts of interest that materially impair the performance 20 of official duties and breaches of the public trust including the misuse 21 of official position or the abuse of official authority for personal 22 gain. 23 b. The state code of ethics shall provide that it shall be the ethical 24 duty of any person or entity within the jurisdiction of the commission 25 to promptly report to the commission activity known to be in violation 26 of the state code of ethics or other law engaged in with respect to 27 activity that is within the jurisdiction of the commission. There shall 28 be no retaliation against a person or entity making such a report in 29 good faith on information and belief, and any person aggrieved by such 30 retaliation may bring a civil action for compensatory and exemplary 31 damages. 32 c. The state code of ethics shall provide that no person within the 33 jurisdiction of the commission shall commit an act of sexual harassment 34 while serving in his or her official capacity and no such person serving 35 in a supervisory capacity shall suffer an act of sexual harassment to 36 occur without taking care that there be due consequences in accordance 37 with law. The commission may by rule define the conduct that constitutes 38 an act of sexual harassment and shall establish a unit responsible for 39 sexual harassment complaints and investigations. 40 § 6. The commission may recommend to the legislature limits for all 41 categories of campaign contributions to candidates and political organ- 42 izations that in its judgment are low enough to prevent an elected offi- 43 cial from being so beholden to a campaign contributor as to materially 44 impair such official's exercise of independent policy judgment in the 45 public interest. 46 § 7. The commission shall be subject to all transparency and public 47 access laws subject to such reasonable exceptions for pending confiden- 48 tial investigations as shall be provided by law. The legislative branch 49 shall be subject to laws providing for transparency to the same extent 50 as is the executive branch. 51 § 2. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the foregoing amendment be 52 referred to the first regular legislative session convening after the 53 next succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in 54 conformity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be 55 published for 3 months previous to the time of such election.
