NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10512
SPONSOR: Rules (Magnarelli) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation
to conflicts of interest of municipal officers and employees, codes of
ethics and boards of ethics; to amend chapter 946 of the laws of 1964
amending the general municipal law and other laws relating to conflicts
of interest of municipal officers and employees, in relation to permit-
ting local codes of ethics to prohibit activities expressly permitted by
article 18 of the general municipal law; and to repeal paragraphs (d)
and (e) of subdivision 3 of section 806 and section 813 of the general
municipal law, relating to the temporary state commission on local
government ethics
PURPOSE: To strengthen the current conflict of interest and ethics
laws covering local governments.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill amends subdivision 3 of section 800 of the
General Municipal Law to deem a municipal officer or employee to have an
"interest" in a contract between the municipality which he or she serves
and a business entity which is affiliated with his or her spouse.
Section two of this bill amends section 801 of the General Municipal Law
to prohibit,a municipal officer or employee whose service to a munici-
pality includes rendition of professional services requiring admission
to the practice of law: (a) from having an interest in any contract for
rendition of legal services to the municipality unless certain require-
ments are met; and (b) from Compensating.any person or organization from
his or her personal resources to render legal services to the munici-
pality.
Section three of this bill amends paragraphs h and j of subdivision 1 of
section 802 of the General Municipal Law to: (a) include spousal employ-
ment within the "duties and remuneration" exception to the prohibition
on interests in contracts ; and (b) expand the applicability of the
"rural municipalities" exception to that prohibition.
Section four of this bill amends paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section
802 to include spousal stockholdings in the "de minimis stockholding"
exception to the prohibition on interests in contracts in section 801.
Section five of this bill amends the section heading of section 805-a of
the General Municipal Law, and adds new subdivisions 1-a and 1-b to that
section to: (a) prohibit a municipal officer or employee from acting in
most circumstances in relation to matters requiring the exercise of
discretion when the action could confer a benefit on himself or herself,
a relative, or a private organization in which he or she is deemed to
have an interest; (b) require public disclosure of the circumstances
warranting recusal; and (c) generally prohibit a municipal officer or
employee from using or permitting the use of municipal property or
resources for personal or private purposes.
Section six of this bill amends the section heading of section 806 of
the General Municipal Law.
Section seven of this bill amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of
section 806 of the General Municipal Law to: (a) require improvement
districts governed by article 13 of the Town Law to adopt a code of
ethics; (b) require municipal codes of ethics to provide standards of
conduct in relation to nepotism; (e) allow such codes to prohibit
contracts or conduct that is either expressly or by implication permit-
ted by section 802 or section 805a of the General Municipal Law; and (d)
require the governing body of a municipality that adopts a code of
ethics to review the code biennially and, when deemed necessary, to
update its code of ethics.
Section eight of this bill amends subdivision 2 of section 806 of the
General Municipal Law to require: (a) a code of ethics or amendment
thereto to be distributed promptly after adoption to every officer or
employee of a municipality; (b) a complete and current copy of a munici-
pality's code of ethics to be posted on the municipality's website (if
any), and distributed to every officer and employee of the municipality
promptly following such person's election or appointment and at least
once every five years; and (c) every municipal officer or employee who
receives a code of ethics or amendment thereto to acknowledge promptly
in writing that he or she has received and read it, and to file the
acknowledgment with the clerk or secretary of the municipality.
Sections nine and ten of this bill amend subdivision 3 Of section 806 of
the General Municipal Law to eliminate obsolete filing requirements and
references to the former temporary state commission on local government
ethics.
Section eleven of this bill amends section 808 of the General Municipal
Law to: (a) require every (i) county, (ii) city, town and village having
a population of 50,000 or more, and (iii) BOCES to have a board of
ethics; (b) authorize all other municipalities to establish their own
boards of ethics or to participate in a cooperative board of ethics; (c)
provide generally that where a municipality, other than a school
district, has not exercised the option to establish its own board of
ethics or to participate in a cooperative board of ethics, the county
board of ethics would serve as the municipality's board of ethics; (d)
provide generally that where a school district has not exercised the
option to establish its own board of ethics or to participate in a coop-
erative board of ethics, the BOCES board of ethics would serve as the
school district's board of ethics; (e) enhance the independence of
boards of ethics by requiring local governments to establish a term of
office for the members of the board; (1) require training for members of
boards of ethics on the law relating to conflicts of interest and
ethics; (g) clarify that a municipality's board of ethics has responsi-
bility for collecting, reviewing and enforcing requirements related to
annual financial disclosure statements; (h) authorize boards of ethics
to investigate complaints made by citizens and to impose civil penalties
for violations of the conflicts of interest law or the code of ethics;
and (i) authorize boards of ethics to conduct ethics training for local
officers and employees. The amendments to this section shall not apply
to a city having a population of one million or more or to a county,
school district, or other public agency or facility therein.
Section twelve of this bill amends subdivision 9 of section 810 of the
General Municipal Law to delete obsolete references to the former tempo-
rary state commission on local government ethics in the definition of
the term "appropriate body," and to define that term as meaning the
board of ethics of a municipality or political subdivision.
Section thirteen of this bill amends paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivi-
sion 1 of section 811 of the General Municipal Law to revise or delete
references to the former temporary state commission on local government
ethics.
Sections fourteen and fifteen of this bill amend paragraph (a) of subdi-
vision 1 and paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 812 of the Gener-
al Municipal Law to remove obsolete references to the former temporary
state commission on local government ethics.
Section sixteen of this bill repeals section 813 of the General Munici-
pal Law which relates to the former temporary state commission on local
government ethics.
Section seventeen of this bill amends section 13 of chapter 946 of the
laws of 1964 to permit local codes of ethics to be more stringent than
article 18 of the General Municipal Law.
Section eighteen of this bill requires the governing board of any muni-
cipality which on the effective date of this act has a board of ethics,
but has not established a term of office for the members of such board,
to establish a term of office for the members of such board to commence
on a date no later than the first day of the municipality's fiscal year
commencing in 2013, and provides that on such date the positions on such
board of ethics shall be deemed vacant.
Section nineteen of this bill requires any person serving as a member of
a local board of ethics on the effective date of this act to successful-
ly complete the training course required by this act within one year of
the effective date of this act.
Section twenty of this bill provides that this act shall take effect on
the first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have
become a law; provided, however that paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of
section 808 of the General Municipal Law, as added by section eleven of
this act, shall take effect January 1, 2014.
JUSTIFICATION: At a time when public integrity and ethics are at the
forefront of concern in the State, it is appropriate to recommit to
efforts to ensure that local government officials adhere to high stand-
ards of conduct. Indeed, many leading authorities, bar associations, and
public interest groups have long called for amendments to the statewide
law governing conflicts of interest on the part of municipal officials.
The current statute governing local officials' conduct, General Munici-
pal Law Article 18, was enacted in 1964 and., establishes statewide
rules, applicable outside of the City of New York, relating to interests
in contracts, gifts, the disclosure and use of confidential information,
and appearances before municipal agencies. It also requires most Munici-
palities to supplement the statewide rules through the adoption of a
code of ethics setting forth standards of conduct for their officers and
employees. Despite the high aspirations for those laws, the Office of
the State Comptroller (OSC) has identified through its advisory opinion
function ways in which the law can be improved. Through its audits and
surveys of local governments, OSC has also found that knowledge and
understanding and, consequently, compliance with conflict of interest
and ethics requirements may not be as high as desired. This legislation
would address these concerns by strengthening current law in a number of
ways. For example, this legislation would prohibit municipal officers
and employees from acting in relation to certain matters in which they
or a relative have an interest, expand the issues required to be
addressed in local codes of ethics to include nepotism, and enlarge the
role of local boards of ethics by authorizing them to investigate
taxpayer complaints, requiring them to oversee and enforce local annual
financial disclosure filing requirements, and permitting them to provide
training to municipal officers and employees on conflicts of interest
and ethics. The legislation would also address the circumstances under
which a municipal attorney's law firm could render legal services to the
municipality for which he or she serves; however, these provisions are
not intended to prohibit a municipal attorney from compensating a person
or organization for providing services to the municipal attorney to
assist in the performance of his or her official duties, such as prepar-
ing a memorandum of law for use by the municipal attorney in advising
other municipal officials. The cumulative effect of these changes would
be to enhance local government officials' capacity to do their work with
the highest degree of integrity and ethics.
The Comptroller urges passage of this legislation.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2010 - S. 7400-a - Passed Senate A.
10682-a - Rules
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the first of January
next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law; provided,
however that the amendments to paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section
808 of the General Municipal Law made by section eleven of this act
shall take effect January 1, 2014.
