Tedisco: NYS Legislature Poised to Go Digital, Stop Paper Waste

Assembly passes legislation to save millions of tax dollars and allow a digital copy of legislation to suffice on a member’s desk

June 18, 2013

The New York State Assembly has made history today by passing legislation (A.7868/S.4417A) sponsored and long championed by Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R,C,I-Glenville) to enable the state legislature to go digital and stop wasting paper and tax dollars.

The measure, which would allow digital copies of legislation to suffice on a state legislator’s desk, now awaits passage in the Senate.

Tedisco has been outspoken about saving tax dollars and the environment by stopping the wasteful printing of bills that often go unread and end up getting tossed into landfills. The bi-partisan bill passed by the Assembly is co-sponsored by Tedisco and sponsored by Assemblywoman Sandy Galef.

Tedisco previously debated the Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chairman to learn how much taxpayers are spending on all the printing of legislation and paper in Albany. Tedisco uncovered that taxpayers are on the hook for $13 million a year to pay for all the legislative printing and up to $40 million just to haul the waste away. (See link here and above).

“If you visit our beautiful state Capitol, one thing that’s striking is the obscene amount of paper being wasted. Walk into the Assembly and Senate chambers and you’ll see reams of bills stacked up on members’ desks. And outside those legislative chambers you’ll find cartloads overflowing with stacks of unread bills still wrapped in twine waiting to be hauled away to the landfill. There’s no reason to waste all this paper when a digital copy of the bill could suffice,” said Tedisco.

“With the hubbub over passing a constitutional amendment to allow for casino gambling in New York, there’s been little discussion about enabling state government to go digital. Our Founding Fathers were wise but they never envisioned iPads, laptops and smart phones as a means of delivering information,” said Tedisco.

Tedisco is also sponsoring the Legislative Online Paperwork Reduction Act (A.6080) to save taxpayers millions of dollars by ending the unnecessary printing of state agency, university, authority and legislative reports, digests and the thousands of bills that sit in the Assembly and Senate Document rooms just waiting for someone, anyone, to pick them up. This bill could be implemented immediately, if passed, as it does not require a constitutional amendment.

“We’re moving state government into the 21st century with its communications,” said Tedisco.

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