STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4746--B
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 14, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN-SIGAL, BRISPORT, CHU, CLEARE, FERNANDEZ,
GIANARIS, GONZALEZ, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, HINCHEY, JACKSON, KAVANAGH,
KRUEGER, LIU, MANNION, MAY, MYRIE, RIVERA, RYAN, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA,
SERRANO, SKOUFIS, WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection --
recommitted to the Committee on Consumer Protection in accordance with
Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring fash-
ion sellers to be accountable to environmental standards and estab-
lishing the interstate fashion environment accountability act; and to
amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing a fashion
remediation fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "fashion environmental accountability act".
3 § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 399-
4 mm to read as follows:
5 § 399-mm. Fashion environmental accountability act. 1. Definitions.
6 As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following
7 meanings:
8 (a) "Doing business in this state" shall mean actively engaging in any
9 transaction for the purpose of financial or pecuniary gain or profit.
10 (b) "Gross receipts" shall mean the gross amounts realized, otherwise
11 known as the sum of money and the fair market value of other property or
12 services received, on the sale or exchange of property, the performance
13 of services, or the use of property or capital, including rents, royal-
14 ties, interest, and dividends, in a transaction that produces business
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03469-12-4
S. 4746--B 2
1 income, in which the income, gain, or loss is recognized, or would be
2 recognized if the transaction were in the United States, under the
3 Internal Revenue Code, as applicable for purposes of this section.
4 Amounts realized on the sale or exchange of property shall not be
5 reduced by the cost of goods sold or the basis of property sold. Gross
6 receipts, even if business income, shall not include the following
7 items:
8 (i) repayment, maturity, or redemption of the principal of a loan,
9 bond, mutual fund, certificate of deposit, or similar marketable instru-
10 ment;
11 (ii) the principal amount received under a repurchase agreement or
12 other transaction properly characterized as a loan;
13 (iii) proceeds from issuance of the taxpayer's own stock or from sale
14 of treasury stock;
15 (iv) damages and other amounts received as the result of litigation;
16 (v) property acquired by an agent on behalf of another;
17 (vi) tax refunds and other tax benefit recoveries;
18 (vii) pension reversions;
19 (viii) contributions to capital, except for sales of securities by
20 securities dealers;
21 (ix) income from discharge of indebtedness;
22 (x) amounts realized from exchanges of inventory that are not recog-
23 nized under the Internal Revenue Code;
24 (xi) amounts received from transactions in intangible assets held in
25 connection with a treasury function of the taxpayer's unitary business
26 and the gross receipts and overall net gains from the maturity, redemp-
27 tion, sale, exchange, or other disposition of those intangible assets;
28 and
29 (xii) amounts received from hedging transactions involving intangible
30 assets. A "hedging transaction" means a transaction related to the
31 taxpayer's trading function involving futures and options transactions
32 for the purpose of hedging price risk of the products or commodities
33 consumed, produced, or sold by the taxpayer.
34 (c) "Fashion seller" shall mean a business entity which sells articles
35 of wearing apparel, footwear, or fashion bags that together exceed one
36 hundred million dollars in annual gross receipts, but shall not include
37 the sale of used wearing apparel, footwear, or fashion bags, nor shall
38 it include multi-brand retailers, except where the apparel, footwear,
39 and fashion bag private labels of those companies together exceed one
40 hundred million dollars in global revenue.
41 (d) "Article of wearing apparel" shall mean any costume or article of
42 clothing worn or intended to be worn by individuals.
43 (e) "Footwear" shall mean any covering worn or intended to be worn on
44 the foot.
45 (f) "Fashion bag" shall mean flexible packaging made of textiles,
46 leather or other animal products, woven material or other similar mate-
47 rials intended for repeated use.
48 (g) "Due diligence" shall mean the comprehensive process companies
49 shall carry out to identify, cease, prevent, mitigate, account for, and
50 remediate actual and potential adverse impacts to the environment in
51 their own operations and in their supply chain, in compliance with, at a
52 minimum, the standards outlined in the most recent Organisation for
53 Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multinational
54 Enterprises, and the most recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation
55 and Development Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in
56 the Garment and Footwear Sector.
S. 4746--B 3
1 (h) "Due diligence report" shall mean the document prepared by the
2 company to communicate all relevant information concerning the exist-
3 ence, implementation and outcomes of due diligence in order to comply
4 with the requirements of this section, and to comply with any rules or
5 regulations established pursuant to this section.
6 (i) "Risk-based approach" shall mean commensurate to the likelihood
7 and severity of the harm. The fashion seller shall prioritize the order
8 in which it takes action based on the likelihood and severity of harm.
9 Severity of impacts shall be determined according to their scale or
10 gravity, scope, and irremediable character.
11 (j) "Supply chain tiers" shall mean a four tier system defined as the
12 following:
13 (i) "Tier one" shall mean suppliers who produce finished goods for
14 fashion sellers, including suppliers' subcontractors, who provide the
15 following services, including but not limited to sewing and embroider-
16 ing;
17 (ii) "Tier two" shall mean suppliers to tier one, including subcon-
18 tractors, who provide the following services or goods, including but not
19 limited to knitting, weaving, washing, dyeing, finishing, printing for
20 finished goods, and components and materials for finished goods when
21 they are stand-alone operations and not integrated with tier one. Compo-
22 nents shall mean materials used to build a product, including but not
23 limited to buttons, zippers, rubber soles, down, and fusibles;
24 (iii) "Tier three" shall mean suppliers to tier two suppliers, includ-
25 ing subcontractors, who process raw materials, such as ginning, spin-
26 ning, and suppliers of chemicals; and
27 (iv) "Tier four" shall mean companies, including subcontractors, that
28 provide raw materials to tier three.
29 (k) "Independently verified" shall mean audited by a verification body
30 accredited by the department of state as described in subdivision five
31 of this section.
32 (l) "Living wage" shall mean the remuneration received for a standard
33 workweek by a worker in a particular place sufficient to afford a decent
34 standard of living for such worker and their family. Elements of a
35 decent standard of living include food, water, housing, education,
36 health care, transportation, clothing, and other essential needs includ-
37 ing provision for unexpected events. Living wage shall be determined
38 exclusive of overtime wages and by net wages including in-kind and cash
39 benefits, and deducting taxes and deductions.
40 (m) "Open data principles" shall mean data that can be freely used,
41 reused and redistributed by anyone. Such data shall be findable or easi-
42 ly discoverable on a website or within a database, accessible or avail-
43 able in a machine readable, convenient, modifiable form and published as
44 a whole, complete dataset, interoperable or able to be mixed with
45 different datasets, and reusable or provided under an open license that
46 permits reuse and redistribution, including the intermixing with other
47 datasets.
48 (n) "Employee" shall mean all workers, whether full-time or part-time,
49 permanent or fixed-term, directly contracted or hired indirectly through
50 an agency or other intermediary.
51 2. Due Diligence. (a) Every fashion seller shall effectively carry out
52 environmental due diligence for the portions of their business related
53 to wearing apparel, footwear or fashion bags, including wearing apparel,
54 footwear or fashion bags produced as a private label, which shall
55 include:
56 (i) supply chain mapping:
S. 4746--B 4
1 (1) companies taking a risk-based approach and implementing good faith
2 efforts to map suppliers across tier one through tier four of
3 production.
4 (2) disclosure of suppliers of the production supply chain including:
5 the name, parent company and product type at each site by country, filed
6 by the following:
7 (A) Tier one suppliers shall be disclosed within twelve months of the
8 effective date of this section, and shall contain a minimum of seventy-
9 five percent of suppliers by volume.
10 (B) Tier two suppliers shall be disclosed within two years of the
11 effective date of this section, and shall contain a minimum of seventy-
12 five percent of suppliers by volume.
13 (C) Tier three suppliers shall be disclosed within three years of the
14 effective date of this section and shall contain a minimum of fifty
15 percent of suppliers by volume or dollar value.
16 (D) Tier four suppliers shall be disclosed within four years of the
17 effective date of this section and shall contain a minimum of fifty
18 percent of suppliers by volume or dollar value.
19 (ii) in carrying out effective due diligence, fashion sellers shall be
20 in compliance with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel-
21 opment Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the Organisation for
22 Economic Co-operation and Development Due Diligence Guidance for Respon-
23 sible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector, requiring fash-
24 ion sellers to, at a minimum:
25 (1) embed responsible business conduct into the company's policies and
26 management systems;
27 (2) identify areas of significant risks in the contexts of its own
28 activities and business and supply chain relationships;
29 (3) identify, prioritize, and assess the significant potential and
30 actual adverse impacts of those risks;
31 (4) cease, prevent or mitigate those risks. This shall include, but
32 not be limited to:
33 (A) incentivizing improved supplier performance on environmental
34 impact by embedding responsible purchasing practices in its supply chain
35 relationships and contracts, including but not limited to contract
36 renewals, longer term contracts, price premiums, providing reasonable
37 assistance to suppliers so that they can meet applicable environmental
38 standards including but not limited to meeting the carbon emission
39 reduction targets set out in this act, and developing pricing models
40 that account for the cost investments.
41 (B) establishing quantitative baseline and reduction targets on green-
42 house gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions inventory shall be
43 reported annually, starting in two thousand twenty-six for emissions in
44 the prior fiscal year; include absolute figures; and conform with the
45 rules and regulations made by the department of state in consultation
46 with the department of environmental conservation based on the account-
47 ing and reporting requirements of the most recent Greenhouse Gas Proto-
48 col Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, Scope Two Guidance,
49 and, starting in two thousand twenty-seven, the most recent Corporate
50 Value Chain Scope Three accounting and reporting standard promulgated by
51 the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for
52 Sustainable Development. Greenhouse gas emissions inventory reported in
53 the due diligence report required pursuant to subdivision three of this
54 section shall be independently verified no less than once every two
55 years. Fashion sellers shall not be subject to an administrative penalty
56 under this section for any misstatements with regard to scope three
S. 4746--B 5
1 emissions disclosures made with a reasonable basis and disclosed in good
2 faith. Within four years of the effective date of this section, primary
3 data shall be used to capture the fashion seller's tier two and tier
4 three inventory of its most significant suppliers contributing to green-
5 house gas emissions. Significant suppliers shall mean suppliers repres-
6 enting seventy-five percent of fabric by volume in tier two and fifty
7 percent of fabric by volume in tier three. Greenhouse gas emission
8 reduction targets must be near-term and long-term, covering scopes one,
9 two and three emissions, and align with the rules and regulations made
10 by the department of state in consultation with the department of envi-
11 ronmental conservation based on, at a minimum, Science Based Target
12 initiative's most recent target validation criteria as promulgated by
13 World Resources Institute, CDP, United Nations Global Compact and the
14 World Wildlife Fund. Compliance with the rules and regulations made by
15 the department of state shall not waive compliance requirements related
16 to greenhouse gas emissions in any other provision of law. For fashion
17 sellers with global revenue over one billion dollars, the absolute
18 contraction approach must be used to calculate scope three emissions.
19 Fashion sellers shall meet targets and report their compliance on an
20 annual basis in their due diligence report, as required pursuant to
21 subdivision three of this section. If found to be out of compliance,
22 fashion sellers shall have eighteen months to remedy their emissions and
23 return to the necessary reduction pathway to deliver on their targets.
24 In non-target years, non-compliance shall mean an increase in absolute
25 emissions in three consecutive years, for companies over a billion
26 dollars in revenue. In target years, non-compliance shall mean not
27 reaching the target;
28 (C) being in compliance with the rules and regulations made by the
29 department of state in consultation with the department of environmental
30 conservation based on, at a minimum, the Zero Discharge of Hazardous
31 Chemicals Program's most recent wastewater guidelines, fashion sellers
32 shall be required, for all significant tier two dyeing, finishing and
33 garment washing suppliers, to sample and report on wastewater chemical
34 concentrations and water usage, within two years of the effective date
35 of this section. Such reports shall be independently verified. Fashion
36 sellers shall also provide corrective action plans for their wastewater
37 treatment within thirty months of the effective date of this section.
38 After three years of the effective date of this section, fashion sellers
39 shall be considered out of compliance if their significant tier two
40 dyeing, finishing and garment suppliers have not made adequate progress
41 in remediation of wastewater pollution concentrations. Significant
42 suppliers shall mean suppliers representing seventy-five percent of
43 fabric by volume. Compliance with the rules and regulations made by the
44 department of state shall not waive compliance requirements related to
45 greenhouse gas emissions in any other provision of law;
46 (D) utilizing responsible exit or disengagement strategies;
47 (E) consulting and engaging with impacted and potentially impacted
48 stakeholders and rights holders and their representatives;
49 (5) track implementation and results;
50 (6) provide for or co-operate in remediation in the event of an
51 adverse impact:
52 (A) remedies shall seek to restore the affected person or persons,
53 where practicable, to the situation they would have been in had the
54 adverse impact not occurred and shall enable remediation that is propor-
55 tionate to the significance and scale of the adverse impact; and
S. 4746--B 6
1 (B) remedies shall include, depending on the nature and extent of the
2 adverse impact, remediation, restitution or financial or non-financial
3 compensation, including establishing compensation funds for victims or
4 for future outreach and educational programs, punitive sanctions includ-
5 ing the dismissals of staff responsible for wrongdoing, and establishing
6 and undertaking measures to prevent future adverse impacts, which may
7 include, but are not limited to the development of internal protocols,
8 practices and procedures to prevent future adverse impacts.
9 (b) The due diligence requirements pursuant to this subdivision shall
10 not be conditional upon the company being effectively involved in the
11 subsidiary's day-to-day operations or exercising a sufficient degree of
12 control on companies within its supply chain.
13 3. Reporting. Every fashion seller shall develop and submit to the
14 department of state annually, beginning within eighteen months of the
15 effective date of this section, a due diligence report.
16 (a) Such report, excluding the information required in clause two of
17 subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section,
18 shall also be made publicly available on the fashion seller's website in
19 a machine readable and reusable format, published in line with open data
20 principles through a clear and easily discoverable link to the required
21 information. In the event the fashion seller does not have an internet
22 website, the company shall provide a written disclosure to any person
23 who has requested information within thirty days of receiving a request.
24 Such report shall also include the fashion seller's annual volume of
25 material produced, including breakdown by material type.
26 (b) Such report shall contain annual activities and financial spending
27 to support supply chain due diligence.
28 (c) The department of state shall identify and notify fashion sellers
29 that have failed to file a due diligence report that they have thirty
30 days to file such report before being placed on a public non-compliant
31 list and that they may be referred to the attorney general for investi-
32 gation.
33 (d) The department of state shall review the due diligence reports for
34 completeness.
35 (e) Fashion sellers shall have twelve months from the introduction of
36 any updated guidance documents to integrate such guidance into the next
37 annual due diligence report.
38 (f) The department of state shall establish a standardized due dili-
39 gence report format model and publish such model due diligence report
40 online for use by fashion sellers in compliance with this section.
41 4. Regulations. (a) The department of state shall, in consultation
42 with the department of environmental conservation, promulgate all rules
43 and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section
44 within six months from the effective date of this section.
45 (b) The department of state, in consultation with the department of
46 environmental conservation, shall also develop and disseminate educa-
47 tional materials to fashion sellers, including providing alerts on time
48 sensitive issues, emerging issues, and high-risk country situations, and
49 assisting fashion sellers in improving the quality of their due dili-
50 gence processes.
51 (c) The department of state shall develop regulations regarding the
52 information required to be reported by fashion sellers in the due dili-
53 gence report in item (B) of clause four of subparagraph (ii) of para-
54 graph (a) of subdivision two of this section. Such regulations shall be
55 developed in consultation with the department of environmental conserva-
56 tion and the most recent Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Such regulations shall
S. 4746--B 7
1 develop methodologies to calculate data capture as laid out in item (A)
2 of clause four of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision two
3 of this section, prior to that requirement becoming effective.
4 (d) The department of state shall develop regulations regarding the
5 information required to be reported by fashion sellers in the due dili-
6 gence report in item (C) of clause four of subparagraph (ii) of para-
7 graph (a) of subdivision two of this section. Such regulations shall be
8 developed in consultation with the department of environmental conserva-
9 tion and the Zero Discharge Hazardous Chemicals Program's most recent
10 wastewater guidelines.
11 (e) The department of state shall develop regulations on reporting
12 requirements that minimize duplication of effort and allows a fashion
13 seller to submit a due diligence report to the department of state that
14 is prepared to meet other national and international reporting require-
15 ments, including any reports required by the federal government, as long
16 as such reports satisfy all of the requirements of subdivision two of
17 this section.
18 5. Verification. (a) The department of state shall, in consultation
19 with the department of environmental conservation, develop a process for
20 accrediting verification bodies authorized to provide verification
21 services for the purposes of this section, including which requirements
22 the entity is authorized to verify.
23 (b) Such process shall at a minimum consider:
24 (i) the demonstrated qualifications of verification staff, including
25 their education, experience, and professional licenses. Verification
26 bodies must employ and retain at least five total full-time staff with
27 expertise in the requirements they seek to verify under this section;
28 (ii) any judicial proceedings, enforcement actions, or administrative
29 actions filed against the body within the previous five years; and
30 (iii) the policies and mechanisms in place to prevent conflicts of
31 interest and to identify and resolve potential conflict of interest
32 situations if they arise. The department shall require applicants to
33 submit the following information, at a minimum:
34 (1) identification of services provided by the verification body, the
35 industries that the body serves, and the locations where those services
36 are provided;
37 (2) a detailed organizational chart that includes the verification
38 body, its management structure, and any related entities; and
39 (3) the verification body's internal conflict of interest policy that
40 identifies activities and limits to monetary or non-monetary gifts that
41 apply to all employees and procedures to monitor conflicts of interest.
42 (c) Verification bodies shall not be authorized to provide services to
43 a company where a conflict of interest exists. A conflict of interest
44 shall include:
45 (i) where the verification body and reporting entity share any manage-
46 ment staff or board of directors membership, or any of the senior
47 management staff of the reporting entity have been employed by the
48 verification body, or vice versa, within the previous five years;
49 (ii) any employee of the verification body, or any employee of a
50 related entity, or a subcontractor who is a member of the verification
51 team has provided the reporting entity with services related to the
52 areas of verification, or any services designated by the department of
53 state, within the previous five years;
54 (iii) any staff member of the verification body provides any type of
55 non-monetary incentive to a reporting entity to secure a verification
56 services contract; and
S. 4746--B 8
1 (iv) any additional criteria provided by the department of state.
2 (d) Verification bodies that have been accredited by the department of
3 state shall notify the department within thirty days if they no longer
4 meet the verification requirements set forth by this section.
5 6. Monitoring and enforcement. (a) The requirements imposed on fashion
6 sellers by this section shall be monitored, investigated, and enforced
7 by the attorney general or an administrator designated by the attorney
8 general to bring civil proceedings for an injunction, or fines for mone-
9 tary damages as described in this section, or civil performance of a
10 statutory duty. Fashion sellers shall be deemed non-compliant with this
11 section if they fail to conduct effective due diligence pursuant to
12 subdivision two of this section or fail to file a due diligence report
13 pursuant to subdivision three of this section.
14 (b) The department of state shall identify and notify fashion sellers
15 that have failed to file a complete due diligence report in accordance
16 with the rules and regulations promulgated by the department of state in
17 consultation with the department of environmental conservation. If such
18 fashion sellers fail to file a complete report, after a period of three
19 months, the department of state shall refer fashion sellers to the
20 attorney general for enforcement for failure to file a complete report.
21 (c) The department of environmental conservation shall review and
22 certify effective due diligence for environmental matters in the due
23 diligence report and identify fashion sellers for referral to the attor-
24 ney general for any failures.
25 (d) The department of state shall compile and maintain a list of non-
26 compliant fashion sellers on the department's website. The department of
27 state shall refer to the attorney general for investigation any fashion
28 seller who fails to file a due diligence report or fails to conduct
29 effective due diligence, once any grace period lapses and the fashion
30 seller remains in non-compliance.
31 (e) Fashion sellers found to have failed to conduct effective due
32 diligence pursuant to subdivision two of this section or failed to file
33 a complete due diligence report pursuant to subdivision three of this
34 section, after the attorney general, or the attorney general's desig-
35 nated administrator, as applicable, has provided notice of non-compli-
36 ance, and after a three-month period to meet obligations under this
37 section has lapsed, may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed
38 fifteen thousand dollars per violation per day. Such fines shall be
39 deposited in the community benefit fund established by section ninety-
40 seven-ccc of the state finance law.
41 (f) The attorney general, or the attorney general's designated admin-
42 istrator shall use a risk-based approach in enforcement and shall
43 publish enforcement guidelines.
44 (g) Any person may report a violation of this section to the attorney
45 general's office.
46 § 3. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 97-ccc
47 to read as follows:
48 § 97-ccc. Fashion remediation fund. 1. There is hereby established in
49 the joint custody of the comptroller, the commissioner of taxation and
50 finance, the commissioner of environmental conservation, and the commis-
51 sioner of labor a special fund to be known as the fashion remediation
52 fund.
53 2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys deposited pursuant to para-
54 graph (c) of subdivision six of section three hundred ninety-nine-mm of
55 the general business law.
S. 4746--B 9
1 3. The moneys in the fund shall be expended by the comptroller for the
2 purpose of implementing one or more environmental benefit projects or
3 environmental remediation projects that directly and verifiably benefit
4 the workers and communities directly impacted, to the extent practica-
5 ble, at the location the injury has occurred.
6 4. On or before the first day of February each year, the comptroller
7 shall certify to the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker
8 of the assembly, the amount of money deposited by source in the fund
9 during the preceding calendar year, as well as all disbursements from
10 the fund during the preceding calendar year.
11 5. Moneys shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant of
12 the comptroller on vouchers certified and approved by the commissioner
13 of environmental conservation as applicable.
14 § 4. The attorney general shall certify to the governor that the
15 office of the attorney general is prepared to execute the duties
16 assigned in subdivision 6 of section 399-mm of the general business law
17 within one year following the effective date of this act. If, after the
18 expiration of one year, the attorney general requires more time to
19 certify that the office of the attorney general is prepared to execute
20 such duties, the attorney general may, for good cause shown, apply to
21 the governor for an extension of time. The governor may grant or deny an
22 extension of up to one year according to their discretion.
23 § 5. Severability. If any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph,
24 section, or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent
25 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
26 invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
27 to the word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part ther-
28 eof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall
29 have been rendered.
30 § 6. The department of state, in consultation with the department of
31 environmental conservation, shall promulgate rules and regulations
32 necessary for the implementation of this act within one hundred eighty
33 days of the effective date of this act.
34 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
35 sections one through three of this act shall take effect one year after
36 they shall have become a law; provided further, however, that subdivi-
37 sion 6 of section 399-mm of the general business law as added by section
38 two of this act shall take effect one year after the attorney general
39 certifies that the office of the attorney general is prepared to execute
40 the duties assigned in such subdivision. The attorney general shall
41 notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon the occurrence of
42 such certification in order that the commission may maintain an accurate
43 and timely effective data base of the official text of the laws of the
44 state of New York in furtherance of effectuating the provisions of
45 section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the public offi-
46 cers law.
