NY State Senate Bill 2019-S445

Senate Bill S445

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Repeals provisions of law restricting public access to records of the joint commission on public ethics and the legislative ethics commission

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

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 10, 2020	reported and committed to finance
Jan 08, 2020	referred to ethics and internal governance
Feb 11, 2019	committee discharged and committed to ethics and internal governance
Jan 09, 2019	referred to finance

Votes

- Mar 10, 2020 - Ethics And Internal Governance Committee Vote
  S445
  
  3
  
  Aye
  
  1
  
  Nay
  
  3
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Ethics And Internal Governance Committee Vote: Mar 10, 2020
      
      aye (3)
      
      Bailey
      
      Biaggi
      
      Stavisky
      
      nay (1)
      
      Jordan
      
      aye wr (3)
      
      Breslin
      
      Lanza
      
      O'Mara

2019-S445 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A5663
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Rpld §94 sub 19, Exec L; rpld §80 sub 12, Leg L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: S3241, A9504
2017-2018: S81, A3618
2021-2022: S990

2019-S445 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Repeals provisions of law restricting public access to records of the joint commission on public ethics and the legislative ethics commission.

2019-S445 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S445

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to repeal subdivision 19 of section 94 of the executive law and
subdivision 12 of section 80 of the legislative law, relating to records
that are available for public inspection

 
PURPOSE:

To require the Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Legislative
Ethics Commission to comply with the requirements of the Freedom of
Information Law (FOIL) and the Open Meetings Law.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill repeals subdivision 19 of section 94 of the Execu-
tive Law.

Section 2 of the bill repeals subdivision 12 of section 80 of the Legis-

lative Law.

Section 3 of the bill is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under existing law, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) and
the Legislative Ethics Commission (LEC) are expressly exempted from the
requirements of government transparency laws, including the Freedom of
Information Law (FOIL) and the Open Meetings Law.

This bill would subject JCOPE and the LEC to FOIL and the Open Meetings
Law, allowing more transparency and access to information about the
state's ethics watchdogs. FOIL and the Open Meetings Law contain suffi-
cient protections to keep investigations and investigation-related
activities exempt from public disclosure. The existing law is unneces-
sarily restrictive, and runs counter to the idea of open government.

In a February 2015 report, JCOPE included a specific legislative recom-
mendation to consider whether its current exemption from FOIL and the
Open Meetings Law should be modified to increase the transparency of
JCOPE's operations, while still protecting the integrity of JCOPE's
sensitive compliance and investigative functions.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.81 of 2017-2018 (Hoylman): Died in Finance
A.3618 of 2017-2018 (Rozic): Died in Governmental Operations
S.3241 of 2015-2016 (Hoylman): Died in Finance
A.9504 of 2016 (Rozic): Died in Governmental Operations

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Minimal.

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

2019-S445 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    445
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 9, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN ACT to repeal subdivision 19 of section 94 of the executive  law  and
   subdivision  12  of  section  80  of  the legislative law, relating to
   records that are available for public inspection
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  19  of  section  94  of the executive law is
 REPEALED.
   § 2. Subdivision 12 of section 80 of the legislative law is REPEALED.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01115-01-9

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