Bill Text: NY S06810 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to the cost effectiveness of consultant contracts by state agencies; defines "consultant services".

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 4-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-06-13 - PRINT NUMBER 6810A [S06810 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-S06810-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          6810
                    IN SENATE
                                    February 24, 2016
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  ROBACH -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
        AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to  the  cost  effec-
          tiveness  of consultant contracts by state agencies; and providing for
          the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Legislative  intent.  The  legislature  hereby  finds and
     2  declares that it is in the public  interest  to  enact  a  cost  benefit
     3  review  process  when  a state agency enters into contracts for personal
     4  services. New York State spends over $3.5 billion annually  on  personal
     5  service  contracts, over $840 million more than the State spent on these
     6  contracts in SFY 2003-04, a 32% increase.  Despite  an  Executive  Order
     7  that  has  implemented  a post contract review process for some personal
     8  service contracts the cost of  those  contracts  continues  to  escalate
     9  every  year well above the inflation rate. In addition the State Finance
    10  Law does not require state agencies to compare the cost  or  quality  of
    11  personal services to be provided by consultants with the cost or quality
    12  of  providing  the same services by the state employees. Numerous audits
    13  by the Office of State Comptroller as well as a KPMG study  commissioned
    14  by  the  department  of transportation have found that consultants hired
    15  under personal service contracts can  cost  between  fifty  percent  and
    16  seventy-five  percent  more  than state employees that do the exact same
    17  work including the cost of state employee benefits. The Contract Disclo-
    18  sure Law (Chapter 10 of the  laws  of  2006)  required  consultants  who
    19  provide  personal  services to file forms for each contract that outline
    20  how many consultants they hired, what titles they employed them  in  and
    21  how  much they paid them. A review of these forms shows that the average
    22  consultant makes about fifty percent more  than  state  employees  doing
    23  comparable  work.  It  is  in  the public interest for state agencies to
    24  compare the cost of doing work by consultants with the cost of doing the
    25  same work with state employees as well as document whether or  not  such
    26  work can be done by state employees.  If state government is to be smar-
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05999-01-5