Includes an advisory committee within the definition of a public body for purposes of the open meetings law.
Ayes (6): Marcellino, Carlucci, Golden, Nozzolio, Zeldin, Squadron
Ayes W/R (2): O'Mara, Hoylman
Excused (1): Diaz
BILL NUMBER:S1853
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to the definition of a public body pursuant to the open meetings law
PURPOSE: Relates to the definition of a public body pursuant to the open meetings law.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Subdivision 2 of section 102 of the public officers law, as amended by Chapter 704 of the Laws of 1979 and such section as renumbered by Chapter 652 of the Laws of 1983, is amended.
JUSTIFICATION: Under current law, any public body that is comprised of public officers and possesses decision-making authority is subject to the open meetings law. However, many times local government officials appoint and/or create committees, often adversary in nature, who hold routine meetings and have legitimate guidelines and mission they must adhere to. These committees that are appointed by a public body are not subject to the open meetings law.
It is the goal of this legislation to create greater transparency with regard to government appointed entities who, by nature, advise said government on local matters.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2011-12: A.522/S.811 2009-10: A.4634/S.1720
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to state.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ S. 1853 A. 1455 2013-2014 Regular Sessions S E N A T E - A S S E M B L Y (PREFILED) January 9, 2013 ___________IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. LAVALLE -- read twice and ordered print- ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investi- gations and Government Operations IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to the definition of a public body pursuant to the open meetings law THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 102 of the public officers law, as amended by chapter 704 of the laws of 1979 and such section as renum- bered by chapter 652 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows: 2. "Public body" means any entity, for which a quorum is required in order to conduct public business and which consists of two or more members, performing a governmental function for the state or for an agency or department thereof, or for a public corporation as defined in section sixty-six of the general construction law, or committee or subcommittee or other similar body of such public body. A PUBLIC BODY SHALL ALSO INCLUDE ANY ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO A PUBLIC BODY, WHETHER CREATED BY SUCH PUBLIC BODY OR CREATED PURSUANT TO FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL LAW. S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01630-01-3
This content is licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0. Permissions beyond the scope of this license are available here.
The software and services provided under this site are offered under the BSD License and the GPL v3 License.
Open Legislation comments facilitate discussion of New York State legislation. All comments are subject to moderation. Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity or hate speech; or that links to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday.
By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.
Discuss!