Bill Text: NY S08410 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Expands the training time for local municipalities in relation to the open meetings law; requires at least one hour of such training be provided by the committee on open government or an appropriate entity in relation to compliance with the open meetings law and if not provided, a justification shall be given.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-06-05 - referred to local governments [S08410 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S08410-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8410--A Cal. No. 896 IN SENATE January 29, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MAYER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, the general city law, the town law and the village law, in relation to expanding training requirements for municipalities in relation to compliance with the open meetings law The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 239-c of the 2 general municipal law, as amended by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 (d) Training and attendance requirements. (i) Each member of a county 5 planning board shall complete, at a minimum, [four] five hours of train- 6 ing each year designed to enable such members to more effectively carry 7 out their duties. Training received by a member in excess of [four] five 8 hours in any one year may be carried over by the member into succeeding 9 years in order to meet the requirements of this paragraph. Such training 10 shall be approved by the county and may include, but not be limited to, 11 training provided by a regional or county planning office or commission, 12 county planning federation, state agency, statewide municipal associ- 13 ation, college or other similar entity, provided that at least one hour 14 of such training is provided by the committee on open government or 15 another appropriate entity in relation to compliance with the open meet- 16 ings law. Training may be provided in a variety of formats, including 17 but not limited to, electronic media, video, distance learning and 18 traditional classroom training. 19 (ii) To be eligible for reappointment to such board, such member shall 20 have completed the training promoted by the county pursuant to this 21 paragraph. 22 (iii) The training required by this paragraph may be waived or modi- 23 fied by the county when, in the judgment of the governing board, it is EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14078-05-4S. 8410--A 2 1 in the best interest of the county to do so provided that such county 2 shall provide public notice, including a justification, of their deci- 3 sion to waive or modify training requirements. 4 (iv) No decision of a county planning board shall be voided or 5 declared invalid because of a failure to comply with this paragraph. 6 § 2. Subdivision 7-a of section 27 of the general city law, as added 7 by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 8 7-a. Training and attendance requirements. a. Each member of the plan- 9 ning board of a city, except a city having a population of more than one 10 million, shall complete, at a minimum, [four] five hours of training 11 each year designed to enable such members to more effectively carry out 12 their duties. Training received by a member in excess of [four] five 13 hours in any one year may be carried over by the member into succeeding 14 years in order to meet the requirements of this subdivision. Such train- 15 ing shall be approved by the legislative body and may include, but not 16 be limited to, training provided by a municipality, regional or county 17 planning office or commission, county planning federation, state agency, 18 statewide municipal association, college or other similar entity, 19 provided that at least one hour of such training is provided by the 20 committee on open government or another appropriate entity in relation 21 to compliance with the open meetings law. Training may be provided in a 22 variety of formats, including but not limited to, electronic media, 23 video, distance learning and traditional classroom training. 24 b. To be eligible for reappointment to such board, such member shall 25 have completed the training promoted by the city pursuant to this subdi- 26 vision. 27 c. The training required by this subdivision may be waived or modified 28 by resolution of the legislative body of the city when, in the judgment 29 of such legislative body, it is in the best interest of the city to do 30 so, provided that such resolution shall include a justification for the 31 city's decision to waive or modify such training requirements. 32 d. No decision of a planning board shall be voided or declared invalid 33 because of a failure to comply with this subdivision. 34 § 3. Subdivision 7-a of section 81 of the general city law, as added 35 by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 36 7-a. Training and attendance requirements. (a) Each member of the 37 board of appeals in a city, except a city having a population of more 38 than one million, shall complete, at a minimum, [four] five hours of 39 training each year designed to enable such members to more effectively 40 carry out their duties. Training received by a member in excess of 41 [four] five hours in any one year may be carried over by the member into 42 succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this subdivision. 43 Such training shall be approved by the legislative body and may include, 44 but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, regional or 45 county planning office or commission, county planning federation, state 46 agency, statewide municipal association, college or other similar 47 entity, provided that at least one hour of such training is provided by 48 the committee on open government or another appropriate entity in 49 relation to compliance with the open meetings law. Training may be 50 provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, elec- 51 tronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom train- 52 ing. 53 (b) To be eligible for reappointment to such board, such member shall 54 have completed the training promoted by the city pursuant to this subdi- 55 vision.S. 8410--A 3 1 (c) The training required by this subdivision may be waived or modi- 2 fied by resolution of the legislative body of the city when, in the 3 judgement of such legislative body, it is in the best interest of the 4 city to do so, provided that such resolution shall include a justifica- 5 tion for the city's decision to waive or modify such training require- 6 ments. 7 (d) No decision of a board of appeals shall be voided or declared 8 invalid because of a failure to comply with this subdivision. 9 § 4. Subdivision 7-a of section 267 of the town law, as added by chap- 10 ter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 11 7-a. Training and attendance requirements. (a) Each member of the 12 board of appeals shall complete, at a minimum, [four] five hours of 13 training each year designed to enable such members to more effectively 14 carry out their duties. Training received by a member in excess of 15 [four] five hours in any one year may be carried over by the member into 16 succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this subdivision. 17 Such training shall be approved by the town board and may include, but 18 not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, regional or 19 county planning office or commission, county planning federation, state 20 agency, statewide municipal association, college or other similar 21 entity, provided that at least one hour of such training is provided by 22 the committee on open government or another appropriate entity in 23 relation to compliance with the open meetings law. Training may be 24 provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, elec- 25 tronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom train- 26 ing. 27 (b) To be eligible for reappointment to such board, such member shall 28 have completed the training promoted by the town pursuant to this subdi- 29 vision. 30 (c) The training required by this subdivision may be waived or modi- 31 fied by resolution of the town board when, in the judgment of the town 32 board, it is in the best interest of the town to do so, provided that 33 such resolution shall include a justification for the town's decision to 34 waive or modify such training requirements. 35 (d) No decision of a zoning board of appeals shall be voided or 36 declared invalid because of a failure to comply with this subdivision. 37 § 5. Subdivision 7-a of section 271 of the town law, as added by chap- 38 ter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 39 7-a. Training and attendance requirements. a. Each member of the plan- 40 ning board shall complete, at a minimum, [four] five hours of training 41 each year designed to enable such members to more effectively carry out 42 their duties. Training received by a member in excess of [four] five 43 hours in any one year may be carried over by the member into succeeding 44 years in order to meet the requirements of this subdivision. Such train- 45 ing shall be approved by the town board and may include, but not be 46 limited to, training provided by a municipality, regional or county 47 planning office or commission, county planning federation, state agency, 48 statewide municipal association, college or other similar entity, 49 provided that at least one hour of such training is provided by the 50 committee on open government or another appropriate entity in relation 51 to compliance with the open meetings law. Training may be provided in a 52 variety of formats, including but not limited to, electronic media, 53 video, distance learning and traditional classroom training. 54 b. To be eligible for reappointment to such board, such member shall 55 have completed the training promoted by the town pursuant to this subdi- 56 vision.S. 8410--A 4 1 c. The training required by this subdivision may be waived or modified 2 by resolution of the town board when, in the judgment of the town board, 3 it is in the best interest of the town to do so, provided that such 4 resolution shall include a justification for the town's decision to 5 waive or modify such training requirements. 6 d. No decision of a planning board shall be voided or declared invalid 7 because of a failure to comply with this subdivision. 8 § 6. Subdivision 7-a of section 7-712 of the village law, as added by 9 chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 10 7-a. Training and attendance requirements. (a) Each member of the 11 board of appeals shall complete, at a minimum, [four] five hours of 12 training each year designed to enable such members to more effectively 13 carry out their duties. Training received by a member in excess of 14 [four] five hours in any one year may be carried over by the member into 15 succeeding years in order to meet the requirements of this subdivision. 16 Such training shall be approved by the board of trustees and may 17 include, but not be limited to, training provided by a municipality, 18 regional or county planning office or commission, county planning feder- 19 ation, state agency, statewide municipal association, college or other 20 similar entity, provided that at least one hour of such training is 21 provided by the committee on open government or another appropriate 22 entity in relation to compliance with the open meetings law. Training 23 may be provided in a variety of formats, including but not limited to, 24 electronic media, video, distance learning and traditional classroom 25 training. 26 (b) To be eligible for reappointment to such board, such member shall 27 have completed the training promoted by the village pursuant to this 28 subdivision. 29 (c) The training required by this subdivision may be waived or modi- 30 fied by resolution of the board of trustees when, in the judgment of the 31 board of trustees, it is in the best interest of the village to do so, 32 provided that such resolution shall include a justification for the 33 village's decision to waive or modify such training requirements. 34 (d) No decision of a board of appeals shall be voided or declared 35 invalid because of a failure to comply with this subdivision. 36 § 7. Subdivision 7-a of section 7-718 of the village law, as added by 37 chapter 662 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 38 7-a. Training and attendance requirements. a. Each member of the plan- 39 ning board shall complete, at a minimum, [four] five hours of training 40 each year designed to enable such members to more effectively carry out 41 their duties. Training received by a member in excess of [four] five 42 hours in any one year may be carried over by the member into succeeding 43 years in order to meet the requirements of this subdivision. Such train- 44 ing shall be approved by the board of trustees and may include, but not 45 be limited to, training provided by a municipality, regional or county 46 planning office or commission, county planning federation, state agency, 47 statewide municipal association, college or other similar entity, 48 provided that at least one hour of such training is provided by the 49 committee on open government or another appropriate entity in relation 50 to compliance with the open meetings law. Training may be provided in a 51 variety of formats, including but not limited to, electronic media, 52 video, distance learning and traditional classroom training. 53 b. To be eligible for reappointment to such board, such member shall 54 have completed the training promoted by the village pursuant to this 55 subdivision.S. 8410--A 5 1 c. The training required by this subdivision may be waived or modified 2 by resolution of the board of trustees when, in the judgment of the 3 board of trustees, it is in the best interest of the village to do so, 4 provided that such resolution shall include a justification for the 5 village's decision to waive or modify such training requirements. 6 d. No decision of a planning board shall be voided or declared invalid 7 because of a failure to comply with this subdivision. 8 § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 9 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
