Senate Bill S1540

                                BILL NUMBER:S1540

TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to directing the president of the state civil
service commission to publish reports relating to diversity within the
state government

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section One. The president of the state civil service commission
within the department of civil service is hereby directed to study and
publish annual reports recording data relating to diversity within the
state and civil divisions thereof as well as appointments to all state
agencies, authorities, boards, bureaus, commissions, departments and
divisions. The president of the state civil service commission shall
annually publish such reports and findings. Such reports shall be sent
to the chair of the senate standing committee on investigations and
government operations and to the chair of the assembly standing
committee on governmental employees no later than the first of
February in each year.

JUSTIFICATION:

In previous years the State Civil Service commission published data
relating to diversity within the State Civil service system. For
              

reasons left unexplained, the Commission has stopped publishing such
reports, thereby leaving the State Legislature uninformed regarding
the statistical makeup of the Civil service sector.

This legislation also requires publication of this data in addition to
data previously unrecorded. This bill requires for the acquisition and
publication of data from all sectors of the State Government,
including appointments. It simply seeks solid data which can be used
to measure minority and women hirings by the New York State
Government.

A recent study by the Center for Women in Government, entitled
'Democracy unrealized', has shown that Policy Level appointees within
the State of New York are grossly devoid of both minorities and women.
out of sixty-three (63) policy level appointees, only eighteen (18)
are women and of that eighteen only three (3) are persons of
African-American or Latino background. Of the remaining forty-five
(45) male appointees, only four (4) are men of African-American or
Latino backgrounds. Conspicuously absent from these appointments are
persons of Asian or Native American backgrounds. This leaves New York
State, one of the most diverse states in the Nation, with one of the
lowest races of diversity for Policy-Level appointees.

This legislation seeks not to remedy this gross lack of diversity, but
to obtain data that can be used to study and mediate this problem in
the future.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2013-2014: S.1841 - Referred to Civil Service and Pensions
2011-2012: S.1484/A.468 - Referred to civil service and pensions


2009-2010: S.2163/A.1473 - REFERRED TO CIVIL SERVICE AND
PENSIONS/Referred to Governmental Employees
2007: S.2475
2006: S.6969

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately.