Bill Text: NY S08145 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires the commissioner of the office of general services to compile, make public and keep current certain information about state boards.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2022-12-23 - APPROVAL MEMO.71 [S08145 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S08145-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8145

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 26, 2022
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Procurement and Contracts

        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 Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section  203-b
     2  to read as follows:
     3    §  203-b.  Additional duties of the commissioner regarding information
     4  on state boards. 1. As used in this section,  "commissioner"  means  the
     5  commissioner  of  the  office of general services and, "board" means any
     6  board, commission, committee, council, task force or any  similar  state
     7  public  organization,  required  to be established pursuant to the state
     8  constitution, state statutes or executive order, for the exercise of any
     9  function of state government and  to  which  members  are  appointed  or
    10  elected. "Board" does not include:
    11    a.  any  informal  advisory  organization established exclusively by a
    12  state agency to advise the commissioner, secretary, or director of  that
    13  agency on an informal basis;
    14    b. any joint standing committee of the legislature or any committee of
    15  the  assembly and/or senate composed entirely of members of the legisla-
    16  ture;
    17    c. any court;
    18    d. the board of trustees of any institution of higher education finan-
    19  cially supported in whole or in part by the state;
    20    e. any entity of local government;
    21    f. any public authority or public benefit corporation, a  majority  of
    22  whose  members  are  appointed  by  the  governor or serve as members by
    23  virtue of holding state offices to which  they  were  appointed  by  the
    24  governor, or any combination thereof; and
    25    g. any board of elections.
    26    2. The commissioner shall maintain a compilation of the membership and
    27  meeting  information  of all state boards, including state boards deemed
    28  active and regularly meeting on and after the  effective  date  of  this

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02098-06-2
        S. 8145                             2

     1  section.  The  commissioner shall keep such inventory in a public record
     2  available for inspection, and updated annually on a  website  designated
     3  by  the  commissioner for the purpose of public access. Such compilation
     4  shall include, but not be limited to:
     5    a. statutory language, executive order or other legal basis or author-
     6  ization for the establishment of such board;
     7    b.  public  information  including  departmental  affiliation, contact
     8  address, phone number, and website;
     9    c. a brief description of the purpose of the  board  and  its  legally
    10  required duties, including required reports or other products;
    11    d.  the size of board membership, current member names, and any quali-
    12  fications;
    13    e. whether members of a board are eligible for payment of expenses  or
    14  other compensation in the performance of their duties as members of that
    15  board;
    16    f. dates and locations of all meetings held, and to be held within six
    17  months,  or a location, including but not limited to another website, in
    18  which such information can be publicly accessed;
    19    g. geographic and other relevant qualifications of all current members
    20  of the board, including the county in which the member resides  and  the
    21  background  or  expertise  the member possesses where such background or
    22  expertise is required for membership on such board; and
    23    h. any other information the commissioner may  require.    Nothing  in
    24  this  section  shall  authorize  the release or publication of any board
    25  member's residential address.
    26    2-a. The commissioner shall also, to the extent practicable,  maintain
    27  and  update  annually  a compilation of all available information of all
    28  state boards currently authorized by provisions of the  state  constitu-
    29  tion,  state  statutes  or  executive orders that the commissioner deems
    30  inactive. For purposes of this section, a board shall be deemed inactive
    31  if it has not held a meeting in the year prior to the effective date  of
    32  this  section.  A  board  shall hereafter be treated as inactive for the
    33  purposes of this section if it has not met  in  the  preceding  calendar
    34  year.
    35    3.  The  commissioner  shall update on an annual basis beginning April
    36  first, two thousand twenty-three on the designated website,  all  vacan-
    37  cies, expired terms, those terms expiring within one year, and the proc-
    38  ess for filling such vacancies on such boards.
    39    4. Each board or the state agency that provides administrative support
    40  or  is  otherwise  affiliated  with  a board shall annually on or before
    41  January first, submit to the commissioner all  information  pursuant  to
    42  this section in a manner specified by the commissioner to facilitate the
    43  publication  requirements  of this section.   Each submission shall also
    44  include information on compensation and expenses incurred in  the  prior
    45  and  current  fiscal  years,  as  well as projected costs for the coming
    46  fiscal year.
    47    5. The commissioner  shall  receive  from  any  department,  division,
    48  board,  bureau,  commission or other agency of the state any information
    49  and resources as will enable him  or  her  to  properly  carry  out  the
    50  purposes of this section.
    51    6.  On  or before January first, two thousand twenty-four, the commis-
    52  sioner shall report to the governor, the speaker of  the  assembly,  the
    53  temporary  president of the senate, the chair of the assembly oversight,
    54  analysis and investigation committee and the chair of the senate  inves-
    55  tigations  and  government  operations  committee  on  the status of the
    56  inventory including but not limited to the number of boards reported and
        S. 8145                             3

     1  verified; the aggregate demographic information of appointments made  by
     2  each  appointing  authority  including but not limited to race, sex, and
     3  geographic representation of such appointees provided that  no  informa-
     4  tion  shall be personally identifiable, and the content and completeness
     5  of the information gathered in accordance with the requirements of  this
     6  section.  The  commissioner  shall  also  report  on  any impediments to
     7  obtaining information.
     8    § 2. This act shall take effect April 1, 2023.