Senate Bill S6495A

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6495--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 24, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  RAMOS,  COMRIE, CHU, LIU, PALUMBO, PARKER -- read
   twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to  the
   Committee  on  Finance  --  recommitted to the Committee on Finance in
   accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --  committee  discharged,  bill
   amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
   tee
 
 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring state  agen-
   cies  to  publish  certain  information in local, community and ethnic
   media
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  This  act  shall be known and may be cited as the "local,
 community and ethnic media commitment act".
   § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds and
 declares New York is one of the  most  diverse  states  in  America  and
 local,  community  and  ethnic  media  provides an important way for the
 state to connect and ensure that its message reaches  all  New  Yorkers;
 and
   The  legislature  hereby finds and declares that according to the U.S.
 Census population estimates for 2022, approximately 23  percent  of  New
 York  state  residents  and  37  percent  of New York city residents are
 foreign-born and according to the 2019 U.S. Census population  estimates
 approximately  30  percent  of  New  York  state  residents do not speak
 English as their primary language and 13 percent of New York state resi-
 dents have a limited  ability  to  read,  speak,  write,  or  understand
 English; and
   The  legislature  hereby finds and declares that the state of New York
 wants to ensure that critical information about  state  services,  poli-
 cies, and opportunities reach these communities and local, community and
 ethnic media is a pathway to allow members of these communities, many of
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10324-03-4
 S. 6495--A                          2
              

 
 whom  critically  need  information  about  New  York state programs, to
 access it; and
   Therefore,  the  legislature hereby finds and declares it is essential
 that all residents have meaningful access to state  programs,  services,
 and  activities, and the public safety, health, economic prosperity, and
 general welfare of all New York state residents is furthered by increas-
 ing access to New York state programs and services, regardless of native
 language, race, color, gender,  national  origin,  ethnicity,  religion,
 sexual orientation, disability or immigrant status.
   §  3.  The  executive  law is amended by adding a new section 164-e to
 read as follows:
   § 164-E. BOLSTERING OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO LOCAL, COMMUNITY AND  ETHNIC
 MEDIA.  1.  DEFINITIONS. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING
 TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   (A) "LOCAL, COMMUNITY AND  ETHNIC  MEDIA"  SHALL  MEAN  ANY  PRINT  OR
 DIGITAL  PUBLICATION  THAT:  CREATES  COMMUNITY  SPECIFIC  CONTENT FOR A
 GEOGRAPHICALLY CONTIGUOUS AREA NO GREATER THAN ONE FIFTH OF  THE  STATE,
 OR  IS CREATED FOR COMMUNITIES OF PEOPLE BASED ON NATIVE LANGUAGE, RACE,
 COLOR, GENDER, NATIONAL ORIGIN, ETHNICITY, RELIGION, SEXUAL ORIENTATION,
 DISABILITY OR IMMIGRANT STATUS; OR FALLS  WITHIN  SPECIFICALLY  TAILORED
 SUBJECT MATTER AS DETERMINED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.
   (B)  "STATE  AGENCY"  OR "AGENCY" SHALL MEAN ANY DEPARTMENT, DIVISION,
 COMMISSION, AGENCY AND ANY OTHER ENTITY OF THE STATE.
   2. LOCAL, COMMUNITY AND ETHNIC MEDIA ADVERTISING. EVERY  STATE  AGENCY
 SHALL  ENSURE  THAT,  BY DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX,
 AND FOR EVERY YEAR THEREAFTER, AT LEAST FIFTY PERCENT  OF  THEIR  ANNUAL
 PRINT  AND  DIGITAL  PUBLICATION  ADVERTISING  SPENDING  SHALL GO TOWARD
 LOCAL, COMMUNITY  AND  ETHNIC  MEDIA  OUTLETS.  THE  OFFICE  OF  GENERAL
 SERVICES SHALL TAKE ALL STEPS NECESSARY, CONSISTENT WITH APPLICABLE LAW,
 TO  IMPLEMENT  THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION, PARTICULARLY WITH RESPECT
 TO THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,  AND  STATE
 HOUSING AUTHORITIES.
   3.  APPROVED  MEDIA  OUTLET LIST. THE OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES SHALL
 DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A LIST OF LOCAL, COMMUNITY AND ETHNIC MEDIA OUTLETS
 THAT PROMOTE AND EXEMPLIFY THE STATE'S MANY INTERCONNECTED  COMMUNITIES,
 AS  DESCRIBED  IN  SUBDIVISION  ONE OF THIS SECTION, FOR STATE AGENCIES,
 INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED  TO,  THE  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT,  THE
 DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH,  AND  STATE HOUSING AUTHORITIES, TO USE AT THEIR
 DISCRETION. STATE AGENCIES MAY PETITION THE OFFICE OF  GENERAL  SERVICES
 TO  INCLUDE  ADVERTISEMENTS SUCH AGENCIES HAVE PUBLISHED IN OUTLETS THAT
 ARE NOT ON THE APPROVED LIST TOWARD THEIR LOCAL,  COMMUNITY  AND  ETHNIC
 MEDIA OUTLET SPENDING.
   4.  DEVELOPMENT  AND TRANSPARENCY. STATE AGENCY EMPLOYEES OR REPRESEN-
 TATIVES THAT WORK ON PURCHASING PRINT OR DIGITAL PUBLICATION ADVERTISING
 SHALL BE REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN REGULAR TRAININGS ESTABLISHED BY THE
 OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES ON THE USE OF  LOCAL,  COMMUNITY  AND  ETHNIC
 MEDIA ADVERTISING. BEGINNING IN TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE, AND EVERY YEAR
 THEREAFTER,  STATE  AGENCIES  SHALL SUBMIT A YEAR-END DATA REPORT TO THE
 GOVERNOR, THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER  OF  THE
 ASSEMBLY  REGARDING  THE  AGENCY'S  ANNUAL PRINT AND DIGITAL PUBLICATION
 ADVERTISING SPENDING. THE REPORT SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE  LIMITED  TO,
 THE  TOTAL  AMOUNT  EACH  AGENCY  SPENT ON PRINT AND DIGITAL PUBLICATION
 ADVERTISING AND THE TOTAL AMOUNT EACH AGENCY SPENT ON  LOCAL,  COMMUNITY
 AND  ETHNIC MEDIA ADVERTISING. DATA REGARDING EACH AGENCY'S ANNUAL PRINT
 AND DIGITAL PUBLICATION ADVERTISING  SHALL  BE  MADE  AVAILABLE  TO  THE
 S. 6495--A                          3
 
 OFFICE  OF  GENERAL  SERVICES AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH YEAR AND SHALL BE
 POSTED ON THE OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES' WEBSITE.
   5.  EXEMPTION  FOR  LEGALLY  REQUIRED NOTICES. TO THE EXTENT THAT THIS
 SECTION CONFLICTS WITH A STATE  AGENCY'S  REQUIREMENTS  TO  COMPLY  WITH
 LEGAL  AND  STATUTORY  NOTICES  THAT  REQUIRE POSTING OR DISTRIBUTION IN
 PUBLICATIONS OR MEDIA PURSUANT TO LOCAL, STATE, OR OTHER APPLICABLE LAW,
 SUCH NOTICES SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM THE REQUIREMENTS IN THIS SECTION.  FOR
 PURPOSES  OF THIS EXEMPTION, AGENCIES MAY SUBTRACT THE PUBLICATION COSTS
 OF SUCH LEGALLY REQUIRED NOTICES FROM THEIR  TOTAL  ADVERTISING  BUDGETS
 BEFORE  CALCULATING  THEIR  REQUIRED  LOCAL,  COMMUNITY AND ETHNIC MEDIA
 ADVERTISING SPENDING PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION.
   § 4.  This act shall take effect immediately.