Requires an agency responding to a request for public employee disciplinary records to develop a policy to notify the public employee whose personal information is subject to the request.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6146B
SPONSOR: Buttenschon TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to the disclosure
of public employee disciplinary records
PURPOSE:
To provide all public employees with notice whenever their personal
information has been released to the public pursuant to a FOIL request.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends section 87 of the Public Officers Law by
adding a new subdivision 6 to effectuate the purposes of the legis-
lation.
Section 2 of the bill provides for an immediate effective date.
EXISTING LAW:
Under current law, the notice contemplated by this proposed legislation
is not required.
JUSTIFICATION:
Under current law, a public employee who has a FOIL request placed on
them; will have no notification of this request. In a time when vacan-
cies continue to rise for our public sector, this discrepancy doesn't
aid the recruitment and retention of individuals for this field. We have
failed to ensure that these dedicated civil servants whose personal
information is subject to a FOIL request be provided any form of notice
of such disclosure. This legislation simply recognizes that these
impacted public employees should have minimum notice when their personal
information has been released to the public.
This proposed legislation would have no effect on the release of infor-
mation that is now permissible following the changes to the Civil Rights
Law and the Public Officers Law in 2020. Rather, it would simply ensure
that if a public employee's personal information has been released to
the public, then such affected employee would have notice of such
release.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6146--B
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 3, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BUTTENSCHON, SILLITTI, SLATER, BERGER, GUNTHER,
DICKENS, FLOOD, ANGELINO, DeSTEFANO, SAYEGH, FALL, SANTABARBARA,
ZINERMAN, FAHY, EACHUS, WILLIAMS, DARLING, CRUZ, CONRAD, BEEPHAN --
read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations --
recommitted to the Committee on Governmental Operations in accordance
with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee --
recommitted to the Committee on Governmental Operations in accordance
with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- again reported from said committee
with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee
AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to the disclosure
of public employee disciplinary records
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 87 of the public officers law is amended by adding
2 a new subdivision 6 to read as follows:
3 6. All agencies subject to the requirements of this article shall
4 develop a policy regarding providing a notification to public employees
5 in the event that the agency is responding to a request for such employ-
6 ee's disciplinary records.
7 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10064-04-4
