NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7744A
SPONSOR: Brennan TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public authorities law, in
relation to authorizing the authorities budget office to suspend local
authority board members and executive staff
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To authorize the Authorities Budget Office to suspend local authority
board members and chief executive officers that fail to comply with
Public Authorities Law ("PAL")
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill authorizes the Authorities Budget Office (ABO)
to suspend local authority board members or chief executive officers
that fail to comply with PAL.
Section two establishes the procedures the ABO must follow in order to
issue a suspension which include notification and an explanation of the
facts and circumstances that led to non-compliance of the PAL. The
notification procedures would include:
*the issuance of a notice of intent to suspend, informing the board
member(s) or CEO that the local authority has 30 days to remedy the
non-compliance; and
*in the event the board member(s) or CEO fails to respond to the notice,
the issuance of a notice of suspension, which shall give the local
authority 180 days to comply prior to suspension.
Section three authorizes the appointing authority, typically a local
municipal official or legislative body, to reinstate a suspended board
member. This section also authorizes the chairperson of a local authori-
ty to reinstate a suspended chief executive officer. In both instances,
the facts and circumstances by how this decision was reached would be
available to the public.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill would authorize the ABO to suspend local authority board
members and chief executive officers (CEOs) that fail to comply with the
PAL. Currently, the ABO is only authorized to make recommendations and
issue a public censure letter. This lack of strong enforcement measures
has led some local authorities to ignore certain requirements of the
PAL. By closing this gap in the ABO's enforcement powers, local authori-
ty board members and CEOs could be held directly accountable for fail-
ures to follow the PAL. Importantly, this bill would require the
suspension process to take place in public and allows for reinstatement
of suspended members or officers.
As of January 20, 2015, 131 local authorities failed to file reports
with the ABO required by the PAL; as of January 20, 2016, 134 local
authorities failed to file. This includes annual reports and audit
reports which are important public documents to assure the public that a
local authority is fulfilling its mission and remains accountable to the
public they serve.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
30 days after enactment into law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7744--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 26, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRENNAN, BUCHWALD, LINARES, SIMON, OTIS, FAHY,
HOOPER, ABINANTI, GALEF -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ABBATE,
COOK, GOTTFRIED, MARKEY, MONTESANO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions -- recommitted
to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions in
accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- reported and referred to
the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to authorizing
the authorities budget office to suspend local authority board members
and executive staff
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new
2 section 6-a to read as follows:
3 § 6-a. Power to suspend local authority board members and executive
4 staff. 1. The authorities budget office shall have the authority,
5 subject to subdivision two of this section, to suspend one or more
6 members of a local authority board of directors, or the chief executive
7 officer or equivalent position of a local authority for a period not to
8 exceed ninety days when such individual or individuals knowingly fails
9 or neglects to comply with any provision of this chapter. The authori-
10 ties budget office is authorized to terminate such a suspension if the
11 board member or chief executive officer demonstrates that he or she has
12 remedied their non-compliance. For the purposes of this section, the
13 "suspension" of an individual shall mean the temporary removal of the
14 rights, responsibilities, powers and duties of a person who is an
15 appointed board member of a local authority or the individual who serves
16 as chief executive officer through appointment or contract. Should the
17 authorities budget office suspend the full board of directors or a
18 majority of current board members the term "suspension" shall mean the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11033-03-6
A. 7744--A 2
1 board of directors is prohibited from taking actions, votes, or adopting
2 resolutions, that bind the board to future agreements, contracts, finan-
3 cial commitments, indebtedness, or other actions, other than actions
4 necessary to resolve the noncompliance or satisfy existing legal or
5 administrative obligations.
6 2. (a) Pursuant to policies and procedures developed by the authori-
7 ties budget office and made available on its web site, when the authori-
8 ties budget office has reason to believe that one or more board members
9 of a local authority has knowingly failed or neglected to comply with
10 any provision of this chapter, the authorities budget office shall
11 provide at least thirty days' notice of its intent to initiate suspen-
12 sion proceedings to the chairperson of the local authority, to the indi-
13 vidual or individuals responsible for appointing such board members, and
14 to each such board member. If the authorities budget office has reason
15 to believe that the chief executive officer of a local authority has
16 knowingly failed or neglected to comply with any provision of this chap-
17 ter, the authorities budget office shall provide at least thirty days'
18 notice of its intent to initiate suspension proceedings to the chair-
19 person of the local authority and to the chief executive officer. Such
20 notice shall include, but shall not be limited to (i) the date and a
21 brief description of the facts and nature of each non-compliance for
22 which such suspension is proposed; (ii) the number of days that the
23 authorities budget office proposes to suspend such board member or chief
24 executive officer; (iii) the option to submit a formal response to the
25 authorities budget office which demonstrates why such board member or
26 chief executive officer should not be suspended; and (iv) if applicable,
27 a period of time in which such local authority or board member or chief
28 executive officer may remedy the non-compliance.
29 (b) If, after the expiration of the deadline set forth in the notice
30 of intent pursuant to subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (a) of this subdi-
31 vision, the board member or members or chief executive officer, whichev-
32 er is applicable, has not responded to the notice or has not remedied
33 the non-compliance to the satisfaction of the authorities budget office,
34 the authorities budget office shall issue to the non-compliant board
35 member or members or chief executive officer a notice of suspension
36 which shall include: (i) the number of days of suspension; and (ii) the
37 date that such suspension shall commence, which date shall be at least
38 one hundred eighty days from the date of the issuance of the notice of
39 suspension.
40 3.(a) Whenever the authorities budget office has suspended one or more
41 board members of a local authority, the individual or individuals who
42 appointed those board members may act to reinstate a suspended board
43 member. If the appointing authority is a legislative body or a member of
44 the legislative body, any action to reinstate a suspended board member
45 shall occur in a public meeting of such body and following an opportu-
46 nity for the public to comment. Such action shall be deemed valid upon
47 passage of a written resolution of reinstatement by a majority and
48 recorded vote of the legislative body. Such resolution shall describe
49 the facts and circumstances by how the legislative body has reached this
50 determination. If the appointing authority is the chief executive offi-
51 cial of the municipality for whose benefit the local authority was
52 created, any action to reinstate a suspended board member shall be
53 through an official act of the chief executive official. Such act shall
54 be recorded in writing and shall describe the facts and circumstances by
55 which the chief executive official reached this determination.
A. 7744--A 3
1 (b) Whenever the authorities budget office has suspended the chief
2 executive officer of a local authority, the chairperson of such local
3 authority may initiate action to reinstate the suspended chief executive
4 officer. Any action to reinstate a suspended chief executive officer
5 shall occur in a public meeting of the board of directors and following
6 an opportunity for the public to comment. Such action shall be deemed
7 valid upon passage of a written resolution of reinstatement by a majori-
8 ty and recorded vote of the current board of directors. Such resolution
9 shall describe the facts and circumstances by how the board of directors
10 reached this determination.
11 (c) For the purposes of this section, "reinstatement" shall mean the
12 restoration of the rights, responsibilities, powers and duties of a
13 board member or chief executive officer of a local authority.
14 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
15 have become a law.
