NY State Senate Bill 2017-S492

Senate Bill S492

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to the procurement and use of Open Source Initiative approved open source license by state agencies

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance 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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 04, 2017	referred to finance

2017-S492 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: State Finance Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§161 & 163, St Fin L
Versions Introduced in 2015-2016 Legislative Session:: S7768

2017-S492 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the procurement and use of Open Source Initiative approved open source license by state agencies.

2017-S492 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S492

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the state finance law, in relation
to the procurement and use of Open Source Initiative approved open
source license by state agencies

 PURPOSE :

To ensure that state agencies are considering the use of open source
software in procurement.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends Section 161 of the State Finance Law by requiring the
State Procurement Council to Recommend to the Commissioner of General
Services necessary legislative changes or modifications to existing or
proposed rules, regulations and procedures that would allow for the
procurement of open source software. In addition, the council must
establish and, from time to time, amend guidelines with respect to the
use of software distributed with an Open Source Initiative Approved
Open Source License by state agencies in the procurement process.

Section 2 amends Section 163 of the State Finance Law by requiring
state agencies to consider the use of open source software if it is
available in the form, function and utility consistent with their
needs in accordance with guidelines established by the state

procurement council.

 JUSTIFICATION :

According to a report by the Center for American Progress, "open
source software is software that may be freely downloaded and used,
and in which the basic operating instructions that make up the
software are freely viewable and may be modified by users." As
discussed in a 2015 article of the "Washington Business Journal,"
because technology is constantly changing and at a rapid pace, we must
ensure that government is not procuring software whose solutions are
outdated by the time the contractor delivers them.

It is in New York's interest that our state agencies function as
efficiently as possible. The procurement of open source software can
help to meet that goal. This bill would require the State Procurement
Council to recommend necessary changes to law and regulations to allow
for the procurement of open source software. According to the Office
of General Services, The New York State Procurement Council is
"responsible for the study, analysis and development of
recommendations to improve state procurement policy and practices; and
for development and issuance of guidelines governing state agency
procurement." In addition, this legislation would require state
agencies consider the use of software distributed with an Open Source
Initiative Approved Open Source License if it is available in the
form, function and utility consistent with their needs in accordance
with guidelines established by the state procurement council.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2016: S.7768 - REFERRED TO FINANCE

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Shall take effect immediately; provided however that the amendments to
Section 163 of the state finance law made by section two of this act
shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall be deemed
repealed therewith.

2017-S492 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    492
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 4, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. SQUADRON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation  to  the  procurement
   and  use  of  Open  Source  Initiative approved open source license by
   state agencies

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  2 of section 161 of the state finance law is
 amended by adding two new paragraphs o and p to read as follows:
   O. RECOMMEND TO THE  COMMISSIONER  NECESSARY  LEGISLATIVE  CHANGES  OR
 MODIFICATIONS  TO EXISTING OR PROPOSED RULES, REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES
 THAT WOULD ALLOW FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF  SOFTWARE  DISTRIBUTED  WITH  AN
 OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE APPROVED OPEN SOURCE LICENSE BY STATE AGENCIES.
   P.  ESTABLISH AND, FROM TIME TO TIME, AMEND GUIDELINES WITH RESPECT TO
 THE USE OF SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTED WITH AN OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE  APPROVED
 OPEN SOURCE LICENSE BY STATE AGENCIES IN THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS.
   §  2. Subdivision 4 of section 163 of the state finance law is amended
 by adding a new paragraph h to read as follows:
   H. STATE AGENCIES SHALL CONSIDER THE USE OF SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTED  WITH
 AN  OPEN  SOURCE INITIATIVE APPROVED OPEN SOURCE LICENSE IF IT IS AVAIL-
 ABLE IN THE FORM, FUNCTION AND UTILITY CONSISTENT WITH  THEIR  NEEDS  IN
 ACCORDANCE WITH GUIDELINES ESTABLISHED BY THE STATE PROCUREMENT COUNCIL.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that the
 amendments  to  section 163 of the state finance law made by section two
 of this act shall not affect the repeal of such  section  and  shall  be
 deemed repealed therewith.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00450-01-7

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.