Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie today announced the formation of a bipartisan working group to implement an electronic assembly chamber.

Speaker Heastie appointed Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle to lead the Working Group on the Electronic Assembly Chamber Project that will oversee the historic transition to the use of electronic bills in the Assembly. The working group also will be comprised of Speaker Pro Tempore Jeffrion Aubry, Governmental Operations Committee Chair Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Minority Leader Pro Tempore Jane Corwin and Janet Duprey, ranking minority member, Governmental Operations Committee.

"In November, New Yorkers overwhelming approved a constitutional amendment that would allow the use of electronic documents to age bills in our chamber," Heastie said. "We advanced this amendment so we could improve and modernize the operations of the house in order to save paper and money. This will bring us into the 21st century and will allow members to have easier access to the tools they need to be effective legislators."

Heastie said that the working group will be tasked with overseeing the timely implementation of this project, and it is expected to report back within several weeks with a plan to begin using computer tablets in the chamber during the 2015 session.