State senators want to expand state comptroller oversight of high-dollar state contracts and are also exploring a bill to clarify what private information lawmakers can get from businesses hired by the state, following a recent investigation into changes Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration made to a $9 billion Medicaid home care program.

Sen. Gustavo Rivera is working on a bill that will clarify the Legislature’s power to conduct oversight of private companies and align state and federal trade secret protections. 

Meanwhile, state Sen. James Skoufis carries a constitutional amendment that would require the comptroller to approve state contracts over a certain price set by lawmakers – making it harder for a governor to circumvent. 

Rivera and Skoufis have led a probe for months into the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, including evidence that Hochul hand-picked the company Public Partnerships LLC to oversee the program starting last April. The governor has denied the allegations and said the contract followed state law. And Hochul removed the comptroller’s oversight of the changes that restructured the program, which allows disabled or elderly New Yorkers to choose their home caregiver.