BILL NUMBER:  S3915

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the election law, in relation to
enlarging the definition of the term "election" for certain purposes

 PURPOSE :

The purpose of this bill is to require reporting of spending in
support of or opposition to certain school district budget proposals.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

This bill would add school district budget proposal votes conducted
pursuant to Education Law sections 2022 (common school districts,
union free school district, central school districts and central high
school districts) and 2601-a (cites with fewer than 125,000
inhabitants) to those ballot proposals that require campaign receipt
and expenditure disclosures under Article 14 of the Election Law.

 JUSTIFICATION :

For those areas outside of the state's five most populous cities,
perhaps no local political unit has a greater impact on the community
than the school districts. School districts, led by tireless citizen
board members, trustees and volunteers, shape community education
policy in the state and have a direct and substantial impact on the
              

property taxes paid by local residents.  School board decisions,
including budgets submitted to voters for approval, determine the
level of local taxpayer resources that will be devoted to public
education and concomitantly, how much the community will contribute in
resources to underwrite this fundamental public purpose.

Under existing law, taxpayers and voters have no way to obtain
information about spending by outside interests to influence the
outcome of school district budget proposal votes. As state resources
available for school districts diminish, school budget decisions take
on greater fiscal significance at the local level, with school
elections the subject of greater public interest. This legislation
will assure that the public's right to know who is attempting to
influence the outcome of these elections will be disclosed.

While current Education Law section 1528 requires candidates for
school boards to report locally and to the Commissioner of the
Department of Education on their fundraising and spending for local
school board races, there is no similar reporting requirement for
outside interests attempting to influence the outcome of a school
budget vote.

This legislation would remedy a significant transparency gap in
current law by requiring reporting to the New York State Board of
Elections from those outside interests who raise and spend significant
monies to influence the outcome of a school budget vote.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-16:S.4667/A.6723
2013-14:S.4510/A.9792
2011-12:S.5071/A.7223

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

Minimal

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately.