The State Senate passed legislation (S4818A) sponsored by Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Orange) that will reduce state expenditures by eliminating requirements to provide free hard copies of the State Register to city, village and town clerks as well as state agencies and legislators.
The State Register is a booklet that lists rulemaking actions and other public notices and is updated weekly. A free online version of the registry has been available since 2003. Entities will be allowed to opt out of receiving a hard copy, but no entity wishing to receive the hard copy will be denied.
“I am proud to sponsor this bill that will save the state money by eliminating what has in this age of technology really become an antiquated requirement,” Senator Carlucci said. “This legislation will wean people off of these expensive, and wasteful hard copies and encourage people to reference the online version whenever feasible.”
In addition to the expense of producing, printing and mailing the State Register, hard copies of the State Register consume enormous amounts of paper and require storage that many municipalities just don’t have.
Estimates have shown that eliminating this requirement when fully implemented over a period of a few years could save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.
