Assembly Bill A699

                                BILL NUMBER:A699A

TITLE  OF  BILL:    An act to direct the law revision commission to make
recommendations to the legislature concerning proposed revisions to  the
general  city  law,  the  town law, the county law, the village law, the
general municipal law, the local finance law and any related statutes

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To direct the Law Review Commission  to
examine  the  existing statutes which govern local governments and offer
recommendations to the Legislature.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:   Section 1  -  states  the  legislature
hereby  finds  and  declares  it  to be the policy of the state that the
present statutory structure of the laws which relate to local government
have evolved in an disorganized manner,  contain  overlapping  statutory
provisions,  contain outdated provisions, and that there is a need for a
new state policy on local government organization.

Section 2 - directs the law revision commission to review all the gener-
al laws that relate to local government, determine the effectiveness  of
such  laws, and to further review such laws to achieve the objectives of
simplicity, ease of administration, fairness and equity. The  commission
is to make recommendations to the Legislature for such action, including
proposed revision of such laws, as it deems appropriate.

Section 3 - requires the commission to make a report to the Governor and
              

Legislature  of  its findings, conclusions, and recommendations no later
than December 1, 2011.

Section 4 - contains the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:  The State Legislature in the case of the  State's  local
governments,  has  enacted  general consolidated laws that empower local
governments.  The last complete review of all the laws was in 1909.  The
County  Law  was  last  revised  in  1950,  the Town Law in 1932 and the
Village Law in 1972.

The General City Law  and  the  General  Municipal  Law  have  not  been
completely  revised  since 1909. The question arises whether the present
law and structure of local government has kept pace with emerging  tech-
nology  and  demographic  shifts  as  well as the evolving need for more
services for our citizens. It is the responsibility of the State  Legis-
lature  to insure that the general laws under which municipalities oper-
ate are clear, concise and make sense in the  21st  century.  The  local
general  consolidated  laws  have been amended thousands of times in the
last 30 years often to make exceptions for  a  certain  municipality  to
exercise  a  certain  power that is not provided in the general statutes
and which cannot be done  under  home  rule  authority.  This  patchwork
approach  has  created a number of legal anomalies. For example, a small
city with a population of less than 10,000  might  have  more  power  in
certain  areas  of  service  than a large suburban town that has a popu-
lation eight times as large. While a city or a village can establish its

own fire department, a town cannot. Towns  also  cannot  set  their  own
speed  limits,  but  village  can  within  certain  limitations. The Law
Revision Commission was created by the State Legislature  in  1934.  The
role  of  the  Commission is to examine the existing law the purposes of
discovering defects and anachronisms and recommending to the Legislature
needed reforms, by integrating the ideas of government officials as well
as all interested persons including bar associations and  academics.  It
would be the appropriate agency to review any state laws.

PRIOR  LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:   05/27/08- A11386 referred to local govern-
ments 06/17/08 A11386 reported, referred to ways and means

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it
shall have become a law.