Senate Bill S4578

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Provides for the appointment of a standing committee on conference to resolve differences between similar, but not identical, bills and resolutions

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to investigations and government operations
Feb 21, 2017	referred to investigations and government operations

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2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Legislative Law
Laws Affected:: Add §54-c, Leg L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S5404
2011-2012: S381
2013-2014: S1473
2015-2016: S2666
2019-2020: S4001
2021-2022: S2725
2023-2024: S2420
2025-2026: S2304

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for the appointment of a standing committee on conference to resolve differences between similar, but not identical bills and resolutions; also provides that such committee may refer bills and resolutions to sub-committees for disposition; further provides for appointment of a non-partisan counsel to make referrals to such standing committee on similar bills and resolutions.

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S4578

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to providing for a
standing committee on conference to resolve differences between
similar, but not identical bills and resolutions passing the senate
and assembly

 PURPOSE :

To create a standing committee on conference consisting of Senators
and Members of the Assembly to produce a single bill and explanatory
report when each house has passed a separate bill accomplishing the
same purpose.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

The Legislative Law is amended to require that a Standing Committee on
Conference be created to reconcile similar versions of legislation
passed by the Senate and Assembly. The Committee shall consist of ten
members. Five members shall be appointed by each the Temporary
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly. In addition,
the Committee shall invite the prime sponsors of the respective bills
to participate as non-voting members.

Whenever a bill or resolution has passed the Senate or the Assembly
and contains substantially the same provisions of law or accomplishes
essentially the same purpose as a bill or resolution that has passed
the other house, it may be considered by the standing committee on
conference. To have legislation considered by the Committee joint
requests must be made by the Speaker of the Assembly and the Temporary
President of the Senate or, by the prime sponsors in both houses or,
by the committee chairs which deliberated on the similar bills.

In addition, each bill or resolution passed by each house shall, at
the written request of any member of the legislature, be examined by a
nonpartisan counsel appointed by the Commissioners of the Legislative
Bill Drafting Commission to determine if the bill should be sent to
the Standing Committee on Conference.

When measures are referred to the Committee, the Committee shall meet
within ten days to negotiate any changes necessary and issue a report
on the bills within fifteen days after the referral. Subsequently, a
report shall be filed with the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of
the Assembly which shall contain a conference bill with the agreed
upon text. The bills will then be placed on respective third reading
calendars for consideration.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Currently, Conference Committees are rarely utilized to deal with
similar legislation which passes in each house. As a result, the
responsibility for resolving such issues falls informally to the
sponsors, the Leaders or their staffs or some combination thereof.
Under this system a multitude of reasons can often needlessly delay or
prevent passage of needed legislation. Even when compromise solutions
are reached under the current practice, it is often done totally
removed from the scrutiny of the public and even the membership, with
the amended bills being reported directly to the floor of the Senate
and Assembly without committee review.

The Congress of the United States and 45 of the 49 bicameral state
legislatures have long employed Conference Committees as an efficient
and democratic means of dealing with differences over legislation
between the two Houses. This proposal is adapted from Rule XXVIII of
the Standing Rules of the United States Senate and is similar to the
rules governing Conference Committees in most state legislatures.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2009-2010: S.5404/A.3853
2011-2012: S.381A/A.8637
2013-2014:  S.1473/A.257
2015-2016: S.2666/A.5753

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4578
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 21, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sens. KRUEGER, BAILEY, HAMILTON, HOYLMAN, PERKINS, SERRA-
   NO, SQUADRON, STAVISKY -- read twice and  ordered  printed,  and  when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
   ment Operations
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  legislative law, in relation to providing for a
   standing committee on conference to resolve differences between  simi-
   lar,  but  not  identical bills and resolutions passing the senate and
   assembly
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The legislative law is amended by adding a new section 54-c
 to read as follows:
   §  54-C.  STANDING  COMMITTEE  ON  CONFERENCE; REFERRAL TO CONFERENCE,
 APPOINTMENT OF NONPARTISAN COUNSEL FOR REFERRAL. 1. BY JANUARY FIFTH  OF
 EACH  YEAR, THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE
 ASSEMBLY SHALL APPOINT A STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE. SUCH  COMMIT-
 TEE  SHALL  BE  CONSTITUTED  BY THE FILING OF A JOINT CERTIFICATE BY THE
 TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE  ASSEMBLY  WITH
 THE  SECRETARY OF THE SENATE AND CLERK OF THE ASSEMBLY AND SHALL CONSIST
 OF FIVE MEMBERS OF EACH HOUSE, INCLUDING AT LEAST  TWO  MEMBERS  OF  THE
 MINORITY OF EACH HOUSE. THE MEMBERS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFER-
 ENCE  MAY  BE  CHANGED BY AN AGREEMENT OF THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE
 SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY AT ANY TIME.
   THIS COMMITTEE SHALL BE KNOWN AS THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON  CONFERENCE
 AND:
   (A)  SHALL  DELIBERATE ON ALL BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS FOR CONFERENCE THAT
 ARE REFERRED TO IT FROM THE LEGISLATIVE LEADERS AS PROVIDED IN  SUBDIVI-
 SION TWO OF THIS SECTION OR AS REFERRED TO IT BY THE NONPARTISAN COUNSEL
 JOINTLY  APPOINTED BY THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BILL DRAFTING
 COMMISSION AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION THREE OF THIS SECTION;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01912-02-7

 S. 4578                             2
 
   (B) MAY APPOINT SUCH OTHER SUBCOMMITTEES AS ARE NECESSARY TO  CONSIDER
 BILLS  OR  RESOLUTIONS  INVOLVING PARTICULAR TOPICS THAT ARE REFERRED TO
 THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE; AND
   (C)  SHALL  INVITE  THE  PRIME SPONSORS OF THE BILL FROM EACH HOUSE TO
 PARTICIPATE AS NON-VOTING MEMBERS OF SUCH COMMITTEE.
   2. WHENEVER A BILL OR RESOLUTION HAS PASSED THE SENATE OR THE ASSEMBLY
 AND SUCH BILL OR RESOLUTION CONTAINS SUBSTANTIALLY THE  SAME  PROVISIONS
 OF  LAW  OR  ACCOMPLISHES  SUBSTANTIALLY  THE SAME PURPOSES AS A BILL OR
 RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE OTHER HOUSE, SUCH BILL OR RESOLUTION SHALL:
   (A) AT THE JOINT REQUEST OF THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE  AND
 THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY; OR
   (B)  AT  THE  JOINT REQUEST OF THE PRIME SPONSOR OF THE BILL OR RESOL-
 UTION IN THE SENATE AND THE PRIME SPONSOR OF THE BILL OR  RESOLUTION  IN
 THE ASSEMBLY; OR
   (C)  AT THE JOINT REQUEST OF THE CHAIRS OF THE COMMITTEES WHICH DELIB-
 ERATED ON THE BILL OR RESOLUTION IN EACH HOUSE
 BE REFERRED TO THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE, WHICH SHALL DISPOSE
 OF THE BILL OR RESOLUTION PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION.
   3. IN THE ALTERNATIVE, EACH BILL OR RESOLUTION PASSED  BY  EACH  HOUSE
 SHALL, AT THE WRITTEN REQUEST OF ANY MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE, BE EXAM-
 INED  BY  A  NONPARTISAN  COUNSEL  APPOINTED BY THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE
 LEGISLATIVE BILL DRAFTING COMMISSION TO  DETERMINE  WHETHER  A  BILL  OR
 RESOLUTION  PASSED  IN  ONE HOUSE IS SIMILAR TO ANY BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS
 PASSED IN THE OTHER HOUSE. IF THE NONPARTISAN COUNSEL APPOINTED  BY  THE
 COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  LEGISLATIVE  BILL DRAFTING COMMISSION DETERMINES
 THAT ANY BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS ARE SIMILAR UNDER THE GUIDELINES SET FORTH
 IN THIS SECTION, THEN SUCH BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS SHALL BE REFERRED TO THE
 STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE AND THAT COMMITTEE SHALL DISPOSE OF THE
 SIMILAR BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS AS PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION.
   4. (A) WHEN SIMILAR BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS ARE REFERRED TO THE  STANDING
 COMMITTEE  ON  CONFERENCE UNDER THIS SECTION, THE COMMITTEE SHALL THERE-
 AFTER MEET WITHIN TEN CALENDAR DAYS OF THE REFERRAL AND SHALL FOLLOW THE
 PROCESS SET FORTH IN THIS SUBDIVISION:
   (I) THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE SHALL CONFERENCE THE BILL  OR
 RESOLUTION,  NEGOTIATE ANY NECESSARY CHANGES AND SHALL ISSUE A REPORT ON
 THE BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS SUBMITTED TO IT WITHIN FIFTEEN DAYS  AFTER  THE
 REFERRAL AS PROVIDED HEREIN; OR
   (II)  THE  STANDING  COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE SHALL REFER SUCH BILLS OR
 RESOLUTIONS TO A SUBCOMMITTEE WITH JURISDICTION OVER THE SUBJECT  MATTER
 OF  SUCH BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS, WHICH COMMITTEE SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE
 STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE AND WHICH SUBCOMMITTEE SHALL CONSIST OF
 FOUR MEMBERS OF EACH HOUSE, INCLUDING ONE MEMBER OF  THE  MINORITY  FROM
 EACH HOUSE.
   (B)  IN  ANY EVENT, EITHER THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE OR THE
 DULY CREATED SUBCOMMITTEE SHALL FILE A REPORT WITH THE SECRETARY OF  THE
 SENATE OR THE CLERK OF THE ASSEMBLY WHICH SHALL:
   (I)  CONTAIN  A CONFERENCE BILL OR CONFERENCE RESOLUTION, WHICH HAS AN
 AGREED ON TEXT AND IS SUPPORTED BY A MAJORITY OF THE STANDING  COMMITTEE
 ON  CONFERENCE MEMBERS THAT CONFERENCED THE TWO BILLS OR  RESOLUTIONS AS
 WELL AS A MINORITY REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS,  IF  ANY,  REGARDING
 THE CONFERENCE BILL OR CONFERENCE RESOLUTION; OR
   (II) CONTAIN A REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE DELIBER-
 ATIONS  ON THE BILL OR RESOLUTION AND AN EXPLANATION REGARDING THE FAIL-
 URE OF THE COMMITTEE TO AGREE ON THE TEXT  OF  THE  CONFERENCE  BILL  OR
 CONFERENCE RESOLUTION.

 S. 4578                             3
 
   5.  ANY  CONFERENCE  BILL OR RESOLUTION, APPROVED BY A MAJORITY OF THE
 STANDING COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE OR THE DULY CREATED SUBCOMMITTEE SHALL,
 IF REPORTED FAVORABLY TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE AND  THE  CLERK  OF
 THE  ASSEMBLY,  AND  AFTER  RECEIPT  BY THOSE OFFICERS OF EACH HOUSE, BE
 PLACED  ON  THE  THIRD  READING CALENDAR FOR EACH HOUSE AND SUCH BILL OR
 RESOLUTION SHALL  THEREAFTER  BE  SUBJECT  TO  ANY  APPROPRIATE  MOTION,
 INCLUDING  A  MOTION  TO DISCHARGE OR TO ADVANCE FOR DEBATE, AT ANY TIME
 THEREAFTER.
   6.  (A) THE NONPARTISAN COUNSEL APPOINTED BY THE COMMISSIONERS OF  THE
 LEGISLATIVE  BILL  DRAFTING COMMISSION SHALL HAVE EXPERIENCE IN LEGISLA-
 TIVE BILL DRAFTING. THE COUNSEL SHALL SERVE FOR A ONE YEAR  TERM,  WHICH
 MAY  BE  RENEWED  BY  THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BILL DRAFTING
 COMMISSION FOR A TERM OF NO MORE THAN ONE YEAR THEREAFTER.  THE  COUNSEL
 SHALL HAVE SUCH RESOURCES AS THE LEGISLATURE MAY PERMIT.
   (B)  IN  CONSIDERING  WHETHER BILLS PASSED BY BOTH HOUSES ARE SIMILAR,
 THE NONPARTISAN COUNSEL JOINTLY APPOINTED BY THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE
 LEGISLATIVE  BILL DRAFTING COMMISSION SHALL CONSIDER, BUT NOT BE LIMITED
 TO CONSIDERING, THE FOLLOWING FACTORS:
   (I) WHETHER EACH BILL AMENDS THE SAME SECTION AND SUBDIVISION  OF  THE
 LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK;
   (II)  WHETHER  EACH  BILL  CONTAINS SIMILAR LANGUAGE AND CONCEPTS EVEN
 THOUGH IT MAY AMEND DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF STATE LAW;
   (III) WHETHER EACH BILL INCLUDES APPROPRIATIONS  FROM  STATE  ACCOUNTS
 AND BENEFITS OR IMPACTS SIMILARLY-SITUATED GROUPS OF PEOPLE; AND
   (IV)  WHETHER  EACH  BILL  ORIGINATED  IN  A SIMILAR COMMITTEE IN EACH
 HOUSE.
   (C) THE LEGISLATIVE BILL DRAFTING COMMISSION AND ITS NONPARTISAN COUN-
 SEL SHALL MAKE AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON ITS DETERMINATIONS
 REGARDING THE SIMILARITY OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS AND  THE  CREATION  OF
 CONFERENCE COMMITTEES.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S4578

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

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co-Sponsors

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Liz Krueger

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

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co-Sponsors

Jamaal T. Bailey

Jesse Hamilton

Brad Hoylman-Sigal

Jose M. Serrano

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S4578 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments