Bill Text: NY S04862 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relates to fingerprinting and background checks of construction contractors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES [S04862 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S04862-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relates to fingerprinting and background checks of construction contractors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES [S04862 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S04862-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4862 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 27, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MARTINEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to background checks and fingerprinting; and to amend the social services law, in relation to statewide central registry clearances by construction contractors The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 1125 of the education law, as 2 amended by chapter 363 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 3. "Employee" shall mean any person: (i) who is receiving compensation 5 from a school or (ii) whose duties involve direct student contact and 6 (a) who is receiving compensation from any person or entity that 7 contracts with a school to provide transportation services to children, 8 or (b) who is an employee of a contracted service provider or worker 9 placed within the school under a public assistance employment program, 10 pursuant to title nine-B of article five of the social services law, or 11 (c) who is receiving compensation from any construction contractor, and 12 consistent with the provisions of such title for the provision of 13 services to such school, its students or employees, directly or through 14 contract. 15 § 2. Paragraph (a-2) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 of the education 16 law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (v) to read as follows: 17 (v) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, the 18 board of trustees of a charter school shall not be required to oversee 19 the fingerprinting process for employees of a construction contractor so 20 long as they have engaged a construction contractor who has complied 21 with the fingerprinting requirements elsewhere in this chapter. 22 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 23 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 24 as follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07679-05-9S. 4862 2 1 (a) The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal 2 justice services and in accordance with all applicable provisions of 3 law, shall promulgate rules and regulations to require the fingerprint- 4 ing of prospective employees, as defined in section eleven hundred twen- 5 ty-five of this chapter, of school districts, charter schools [and], 6 boards of cooperative educational services, and construction contractors 7 and authorizing the fingerprinting of prospective employees of nonpublic 8 and private elementary and secondary schools, and for the use of infor- 9 mation derived from searches of the records of the division of criminal 10 justice services and the federal bureau of investigation based on the 11 use of such fingerprints. The commissioner shall also develop a form for 12 use by school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educa- 13 tional services, construction contractors, and nonpublic and private 14 elementary and secondary schools in connection with the submission of 15 fingerprints that contains the specific job title sought or the 16 construction or maintenance project on which the individual will be 17 working, and any other information that may be relevant to consideration 18 of the applicant. The commissioner shall also create or expand the 19 functionality of internet based systems to provide access to 20 construction contractors upon application of the construction contractor 21 to the commissioner to enable them to be able to review fingerprint 22 results and subsequent arrest notifications based on the fingerprint and 23 background check data by logging into a protected web portal, entering 24 in the employee name and social security number, which would provide 25 access to see the fingerprint results. The commissioner shall also 26 establish a form for the recordation of allegations of child abuse in an 27 educational setting, as required pursuant to section eleven hundred 28 twenty-six of this chapter. No person who has been fingerprinted pursu- 29 ant to section three thousand four-b of this chapter or pursuant to 30 section five hundred nine-cc or twelve hundred twenty-nine-d of the 31 vehicle and traffic law and whose fingerprints remain on file with the 32 division of criminal justice services shall be required to undergo fing- 33 erprinting for purposes of a new criminal history record check. This 34 subdivision and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto 35 shall not apply to a school district within a city with a population of 36 one million or more. 37 § 4. The opening paragraph of paragraph (b) of subdivision 30 of 38 section 305 of the education law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws 39 of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 40 The commissioner, in cooperation with the division of criminal justice 41 services, shall promulgate a form to be provided to all such prospective 42 employees of school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative 43 educational services, construction contractors and nonpublic and private 44 elementary and secondary schools that elect to fingerprint and seek 45 clearance for prospective employees that shall: 46 § 5. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the education 47 law, as amended by chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read 48 as follows: 49 (d) The commissioner shall develop forms to be provided to all school 50 districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, 51 construction contractors and to all nonpublic and private elementary and 52 secondary schools that elect to fingerprint their prospective employees, 53 to be completed and signed by prospective employees when conditional 54 appointment or emergency conditional appointment is offered. 55 § 6. Subdivision 31 of section 305 of the education law, as added by 56 chapter 380 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:S. 4862 3 1 31. The commissioner shall direct that each school district, charter 2 school, [and] private elementary and secondary school, and construction 3 contractor appoint a designated educational official for the purposes 4 set forth in section 380.90 of the criminal procedure law, subdivision 5 seventeen of section 301.2 and subdivision three of section 380.1 of the 6 family court act. In addition, the commissioner shall promulgate rules 7 and regulations, in consultation with the office of court adminis- 8 tration, to facilitate electronic access by the courts to the names and 9 addresses of such designated educational officials. 10 § 7. Subdivision 1 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 11 chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 12 1. [The] Prior to the awarding of a contract to perform services, the 13 commissioner shall submit to the division of criminal justice services 14 two sets of fingerprints of prospective employees as defined in subdivi- 15 sion three of section eleven hundred twenty-five of this chapter 16 received from a school district, charter school or board of cooperative 17 educational services, construction contractors and of prospective 18 employees received from nonpublic and private elementary and secondary 19 schools pursuant to title two of this chapter, and the division of crim- 20 inal justice services processing fee imposed pursuant to subdivision 21 eight-a of section eight hundred thirty-seven of the executive law and 22 any fee imposed by the federal bureau of investigation. The division of 23 criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation shall 24 forward such criminal history record to the commissioner in a timely 25 manner. For the purposes of this section, the term "criminal history 26 record" shall mean a record of all convictions of crimes and any pending 27 criminal charges maintained on an individual by the division of criminal 28 justice services and the federal bureau of investigation. All such crim- 29 inal history records sent to the commissioner pursuant to this subdivi- 30 sion shall be confidential pursuant to the applicable federal and state 31 laws, rules and regulations, and shall not be published or in any way 32 disclosed to persons other than the commissioner, unless otherwise 33 authorized by law. 34 § 8. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 35 section 7 of chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 36 follows: 37 3. (a) Clearance. (i) After receipt of a criminal history record from 38 the division of criminal justice services and the federal bureau of 39 investigation the commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate 40 school district, charter school, board of cooperative educational 41 services, construction contractors or nonpublic or private elementary or 42 secondary school whether the prospective employee to which such report 43 relates is cleared for employment or for access to the proposed project 44 to perform construction and/or maintenance work based upon his or her 45 criminal history. All determinations to grant or deny clearance for 46 employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be performed in accordance 47 with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six of the execu- 48 tive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. When the 49 commissioner denies a prospective employee clearance for employment, 50 such prospective employee shall be afforded notice and the right to be 51 heard and offer proof in opposition to such determination in accordance 52 with the regulations of the commissioner. 53 (ii) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, 54 information regarding the results of the investigation of current or 55 prospective employees of construction contractors and subsequent changes 56 in status related to such employees shall be transmitted via an inter-S. 4862 4 1 net-based system made available to construction contractors upon appli- 2 cation of the construction contractor to the commissioner where, by 3 logging into a protected web portal and entering in the employee name 4 and social security number, and construction contractors would be able 5 to access fingerprint results, whether the employee first completed a 6 form provided to them by the construction contractors, or received a 7 form previously from a school district, charter school or board of coop- 8 erative educational services. Nothing in this section shall require an 9 employee who has already submitted their fingerprints to the commission- 10 er to have to submit them again, so long as they were not destroyed. 11 (b) Conditional clearance. When the commissioner receives a request 12 for a determination on the conditional clearance of a prospective 13 employee, the commissioner, after receipt of a criminal history record 14 from the division of criminal justice services, shall promptly notify 15 the prospective employee and the appropriate school district, charter 16 school, board of cooperative educational services, construction contrac- 17 tors or nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school that the 18 prospective employee to which such report relates is conditionally 19 cleared for employment or work on a construction or maintenance project 20 based upon his or her criminal history or that more time is needed to 21 make the determination. If the commissioner determines that more time is 22 needed, the notification shall include a good faith estimate of the 23 amount of additional time needed. Such notification shall be made within 24 fifteen business days after the commissioner receives the prospective 25 employee's fingerprints. All determinations to grant or deny conditional 26 clearance for employment pursuant to this paragraph shall be performed 27 in accordance with subdivision sixteen of section two hundred ninety-six 28 of the executive law and article twenty-three-A of the correction law. 29 § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law, as amended by 30 section 8 of chapter 630 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 31 follows: 32 3. After receipt of a criminal history record from the division of 33 criminal justice services and the federal bureau of investigation the 34 commissioner shall promptly notify the appropriate school district, 35 charter school, board of cooperative educational services, construction 36 contractor, or nonpublic or private elementary or secondary school 37 whether the prospective employee to which such report relates is cleared 38 for employment or for access to a proposed project site to perform 39 construction and/or maintenance work based upon his or her criminal 40 history. All determinations to grant or deny clearance for employment or 41 ability to work on a proposed project pursuant to this subdivision shall 42 be performed in accordance with subdivision sixteen of section two 43 hundred ninety-six of the executive law and article twenty-three-A of 44 the correction law. When the commissioner denies a prospective employee 45 clearance for employment, such prospective employee shall be afforded 46 notice and the right to be heard and offer proof in opposition to such 47 determination in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner. 48 § 10. Section 1125 of the education law is amended by adding a new 49 subdivision 11 to read as follows: 50 11. "Construction contractor" shall mean any individual or entity 51 seeking permission either through a bid or otherwise to perform 52 construction and/or maintenance work on facilities occupied at any point 53 by students of the school district, charter school, board of cooperative 54 educational services, or nonpublic school.S. 4862 5 1 § 11. Subdivision 3 of section 424-a of the social services law, as 2 amended by section 6 of part C of chapter 57 of the laws of 2018, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 3. For purposes of this section, the term "provider" or "provider 5 agency" shall mean: an authorized agency; the office of children and 6 family services; juvenile detention facilities subject to the certif- 7 ication of the office of children and family services; programs estab- 8 lished pursuant to article nineteen-H of the executive law; non-residen- 9 tial or residential programs or facilities licensed or operated by the 10 office of mental health or the office for people with developmental 11 disabilities except family care homes; licensed child day care centers, 12 including head start programs which are funded pursuant to title V of 13 the federal economic opportunity act of nineteen hundred sixty-four, as 14 amended; early intervention service established pursuant to section 15 twenty-five hundred forty of the public health law; preschool services 16 established pursuant to section forty-four hundred ten of the education 17 law; school-age child care programs; construction contractors as defined 18 in subdivision eleven of section eleven hundred twenty-five of the 19 education law; special act school districts as enumerated in chapter 20 five hundred sixty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven, as 21 amended; programs and facilities licensed by the office of alcoholism 22 and substance abuse services; residential schools which are operated, 23 supervised or approved by the education department; health homes, or any 24 subcontractor of such health homes, who contracts with or is approved or 25 otherwise authorized by the department of health to provide health home 26 services to all those enrolled pursuant to a diagnosis of a develop- 27 mental disability as defined in subdivision twenty-two of section 1.03 28 of the mental hygiene law and enrollees who are under twenty-one years 29 of age under section three hundred sixty-five-l of this chapter, or any 30 entity that provides home and community based services to enrollees who 31 are under twenty-one years of age under a demonstration program pursuant 32 to section eleven hundred fifteen of the federal social security act; 33 publicly-funded emergency shelters for families with children, provided, 34 however, for purposes of this section, when the provider or provider 35 agency is a publicly-funded emergency shelter for families with chil- 36 dren, then all references in this section to the "potential for regular 37 and substantial contact with individuals who are cared for by the agen- 38 cy" shall mean the potential for regular and substantial contact with 39 children who are served by such shelter; and any other facility or 40 provider agency, as defined in subdivision four of section four hundred 41 eighty-eight of this chapter, in regard to the employment of staff, or 42 use of providers of goods and services and staff of such providers, 43 consultants, interns and volunteers. 44 § 12. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 390-a of the social 45 services law, as amended by chapter 416 of the laws of 2000, is amended 46 to read as follows: 47 (a) review and evaluate the backgrounds of and information supplied by 48 any person applying to be a child day care center or school-age child 49 care program employee or volunteer or group family day care assistant, a 50 provider of family day care or group family day care, or a director of a 51 child day care center, head start day care center or school-age child 52 care program or a construction contractor, or a construction contrac- 53 tor's employee who services any of these entities. Such procedures shall 54 include but not be limited to the following requirements: that the 55 applicant set forth his or her employment history, provide personal and 56 employment references; submit such information as is required forS. 4862 6 1 screening with the statewide central register of child abuse and 2 maltreatment in accordance with the provisions of section four hundred 3 twenty-four-a of this article; sign a sworn statement indicating wheth- 4 er, to the best of his or her knowledge, he or she has ever been 5 convicted of a crime in this state or any other jurisdiction; and 6 provide his or her fingerprints for submission to the division of crimi- 7 nal justice services in accordance with the provisions of section three 8 hundred ninety-b of this title. Notwithstanding the provisions of this 9 paragraph, where a program has people working on their premises through 10 a construction contractor as defined in subdivision eleven of section 11 eleven hundred twenty-five of the education law and such construction 12 contractor has properly performed checks on its employees as a provider 13 or provider agency under section four hundred twenty-four-a of this 14 chapter, then such program does not need to run the check itself on the 15 construction contractor employees working on their site; 16 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that: 17 (a) the amendments to section 1125 of the education law made by section 18 one of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 19 manner as chapter 363 of the laws of 2018, takes effect; (b) the amend- 20 ments to paragraph (a-2) of subdivision 3 of section 2854 of the educa- 21 tion law made by section two of this act shall not affect the expiration 22 of such paragraph and shall expire and be deemed repealed therewith; (c) 23 the amendments to paragraph (d) of subdivision 30 of section 305 of the 24 education law made by section five of this act shall not affect the 25 repeal of such paragraph and shall be deemed repealed therewith; and (d) 26 the amendments to subdivision 3 of section 3035 of the education law 27 made by section eight of this act shall be subject to the expiration and 28 reversion of such subdivision, pursuant to section 12 of chapter 147 of 29 the laws of 2001, as amended, when upon such date the provisions of 30 section nine of this act shall take effect.
