STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3149--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 2, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- recommitted
to the Committee on Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8
-- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating the New York
character development commission; to amend the state finance law, in
relation to establishing the New York character development fund; and
providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 141 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 141. New York character development commission. 1. Commission
4 established. (a) There is hereby created in the education department a
5 commission to be known as the "New York character development commis-
6 sion" which shall be charged with investigating and determining the best
7 practices in building character among state public school children in
8 grades kindergarten through twelve and formulating recommendations for
9 the implementation of those practices in public schools.
10 (b) The commission shall begin to act forty-five days after this
11 section shall have become a law.
12 2. Members of the commission. (a) The commission shall consist of ten
13 members to be appointed as follows: (i) two members shall be appointed
14 by the temporary president of the senate; (ii) two members shall be
15 appointed by the speaker of the assembly; (iii) one member shall be
16 appointed by the minority leader of the senate; (iv) one member shall be
17 appointed by the minority leader of the assembly; (v) two members shall
18 be appointed by the governor; and (vi) two members shall be appointed by
19 the board of regents. The board of regents shall designate the chair
20 from among the members of the commission.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00403-02-6
S. 3149--A 2
1 (b) One member appointed by each of the temporary president of the
2 senate, the speaker of the assembly, the governor and the board of
3 regents shall be an academic and research expert. The other member
4 appointed by the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the
5 assembly, the governor and the board of regents shall be an educator. At
6 least seventy percent of the members of the commission shall come from
7 public, non-profit or government sectors. To the extent practicable,
8 the membership of the commission shall include administrators, faculty
9 and other individuals committed to advancing the educational opportu-
10 nities of the children of the state.
11 (c) The legislative leaders and the governor shall submit their
12 appointments to the board of regents, and the board of regents shall
13 make appointments, no later than forty-five days after this section
14 becomes a law. Vacancies in the commission shall be filled in the same
15 manner as the member whose vacancy is being filled was appointed.
16 (d) The members of the commission shall receive no compensation for
17 their services as members, but shall be allowed their actual and neces-
18 sary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. Members of
19 the commission shall be considered public officers for purposes of
20 section seventeen of the public officers law.
21 3. Commission staff and agency liaison. (a) The commissioner shall
22 designate such employees of the department as are reasonably necessary
23 to provide support services to the commission. The commission, acting by
24 the chair of the commission, may employ additional staff and consult-
25 ants, who shall be paid from amounts available to the commission for
26 that purpose.
27 (b) The commissioner shall appoint one or more representatives of the
28 department to serve as liaison between such department and the commis-
29 sion. All state agencies, public authorities and public benefit corpo-
30 rations shall provide such assistance as may be reasonably requested by
31 the chair of the commission.
32 4. Powers and duties of the commission. (a) The commission shall have
33 the power and duty to:
34 (1) study and research the effectiveness of building character among
35 state public school children in grades kindergarten through twelve;
36 (2) study, explore, and research future measures for different charac-
37 ter traits;
38 (3) propose specific programs and a plan to allocate resources to
39 develop and grow character among all public school students;
40 (4) study, explore and propose a plan to implement the character trait
41 measures that may be one of the considered factors for grade advance-
42 ment;
43 (5) study, explore and propose measures to incorporate digital plat-
44 forms;
45 (6) establish, publish and publicize a proposal for the implementation
46 of a pilot program and/or a state-wide initiative concerning the build-
47 ing of character among state public school children in grades kindergar-
48 ten through twelve and provide recommendations germane to the develop-
49 ment of such programs in schools;
50 (7) prepare and deliver a report concerning the commission's findings
51 and recommendations as provided in subdivision five of this section;
52 (8) raise funding for the New York character development fund estab-
53 lished by section ninety-nine-y of the state finance law; and
54 (9) take such other actions and measures as may be necessary to imple-
55 ment the provisions of this section.
S. 3149--A 3
1 (b) As used in this section, "character" refers to the soft and
2 emotional skills that are proven to produce successful leaders, includ-
3 ing, but not limited to grit, zest, perseverance, curiosity, self-con-
4 trol, tenacity, optimism, gratitude, and social intelligence.
5 5. Commission recommendations. On or before June thirtieth, two thou-
6 sand seventeen, the commission shall transmit to the governor, the
7 temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the
8 minority leader of the senate, the minority leader of the assembly and
9 the board of regents a report concerning its findings and recommenda-
10 tions, which shall include specific recommendations for implementation
11 of a proposed pilot plan or state-wide initiative concerning the build-
12 ing of character among state public school children in grades kindergar-
13 ten through twelve and provide recommendations. Upon the transmission of
14 the report to the governor and the legislature the commission shall be
15 dissolved.
16 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-y to
17 read as follows:
18 § 99-y. New York character development fund. 1. There is hereby estab-
19 lished in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commission-
20 er of taxation and finance a special fund to be known as the "New York
21 character development fund".
22 2. Such fund shall consist of all monies credited or transferred ther-
23 eto from the general fund or from any other fund or sources pursuant to
24 law. Nothing contained herein shall prevent the department of education
25 from receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the purposes of the fund as
26 defined in this section and depositing them into the fund according to
27 law. Except as provided in subdivision five of this section, monies of
28 the fund shall not be co-mingled with any other fund.
29 3. Monies of the fund shall be expended for the purposes of carrying
30 out the provisions of section one hundred forty-one of the education
31 law.
32 4. Monies shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant of
33 the state comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the chair of
34 the New York character development commission.
35 5. Upon the dissolution of the New York character development commis-
36 sion, any monies remaining in the fund shall be deposited into the
37 general fund pursuant to the provisions of section seventy-two of this
38 article.
39 § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
40 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of
41 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
42 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
43 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
44 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
45 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
46 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such
47 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
48 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
49 deemed repealed June 30, 2017.
