Senate Bill S5807A

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5807

SPONSOR: TEDISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to enacting the "online
digital paperwork reduction act"

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to reduce the number of bills, reports,
digests, records and various documents printed by the New York State
Legislature and establish a process to make these documents available
electronically through the websites of the New York State Senate, Assem-
bly and State Agencies.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 2. Section 1. Section 12 of the New York state printing and
public documents law is amended by adding a new subdivision 5 to read as
follows:

              

5. Each state agency shall make all public documents, as defined in this
article, available in a digital format on its website in a manner that
allows such documents to be printed. Under no circumstances shall any
document that is required by law to remain confidential be deemed a
public document.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Each year, thousands of bills are introduced and every single measure
gets printed multiple times. It has been estimated that this could save
taxpayers millions of dollars.  Eliminating automatic bill printing
would save money and save resources.  Instead of having all legislation
and reports printed on paper, making them available on a digital format
where lawmakers can view it on their laptops and mobile devices would
deliver significant savings.  If necessary, Members of the Legislature,
State Agencies and the public could print a copy from their own comput-
er.  The U.S. House of Representatives passed similar legislation (by a
vote of 3990) to stop the mandatory printing of congressional bills.
Several state legislatures have gone paperless or are experimenting with
going digital. They include California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii,
Kansas, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wiscon-
sin, It's estimated that Ohio has saved $1.5 million since going
digital.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

02/18/15: S.3812 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

01/06/16: S.3812 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

02/03/17: S.4149 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

01/03/18: S.4149 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

01/30/18: S.4149 1ST REPORT CAL.362

02/05/18: S.4149 2ND REPORT CAL.

02/06/18: S.4149 ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

02/27/18: S.4149 AMENDED ON THIRD READING 4149A

03/26/18: S.4149 PASSED SENATE

03/26/18: S.4149 DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

03/26/18: S.4149A referred to governmental operations

06/07/18: S.4149A RECALLED FROM ASSEMBLY

06/07/18: S.4149A returned to senate

06/07/18: S.4149A VOTE RECONSIDERED - RESTORED TO THIRD READING

06/07/18: S.4149A AMENDED ON THIRD READING S.4149B

06/11/18: REPASSED SENATE

06/11/18: S.4149B RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY

06/11/18: S.4149B referred to governmental

01/14/19: S.1392  REFERRED TO FINANCE

01/08/20: S.1392 REFERRED TO FINANCE

01/12/21: S.1545 REFERRED TO FINANCE

01/05/22: S.1514 REFERRED TO FINANCE

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect on the 90th day after becoming law.