Establishes the "one city act" which applies to cities with a population of one million or more and provides for an agency to disclose the personal information of individuals that would otherwise be restricted from disclosure to another agency or agent thereof for the limited purpose of providing benefits, services, or care coordination to individuals or a research study concerning the provision of benefits, services or care coordination.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5916
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 24, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BORES -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Cities
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to interagency
data sharing by agencies of a city with a population of one million or
more for providing benefits, services or care coordination
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 "one city act".
3 § 2. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new section
4 139-f to read as follows:
5 § 139-f. Data sharing by agencies within a local government for
6 providing benefits, services or care coordination. 1. Applicability.
7 This section shall apply to cities having a population of one million or
8 more.
9 2. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds, determines, and
10 declares that the effective delivery of benefits, services and care
11 coordination by a local government to its populace may be improved
12 through cooperative data-sharing arrangements that enable its agencies
13 to act, in effect, as a single coordinated entity, "one city", for such
14 purposes. The delivery of benefits, services and care coordination often
15 either requires or is buttressed by the sharing of the personal informa-
16 tion collected from individuals or households by one local government
17 agency with other local government agencies, particularly where the same
18 individual or household is known to multiple local government agencies
19 or faces complex challenges requiring cross-agency coordination to
20 effectively address a pressing need for government services, such as but
21 not limited to food, shelter, mental health services, public benefits,
22 and health care. The legislature recognizes the importance of ensuring
23 robust protections for safeguarding the privacy of the personal informa-
24 tion that individuals have entrusted to their local government while
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04212-02-5
A. 5916 2
1 also enabling its agencies to responsibly share such information with
2 each other in order to effectively deliver benefits, services and care
3 coordination to its populace. State authority for cooperative data-shar-
4 ing arrangements that enable agencies of a local government to coordi-
5 nate their activities is necessary in certain instances where laws of
6 the state of New York impose restrictions on the disclosure of such
7 personal information between local government agencies. Such cooperative
8 data-sharing arrangements can be developed and implemented with appro-
9 priate safeguards and protocols for protecting personal privacy and
10 cybersecurity.
11 3. Definitions. As used in this section:
12 (a) "Agency" means an office, position, administration, department,
13 division, bureau, board or commission, or a corporation, institution or
14 agency of government, the expenses of which are paid in whole or in part
15 from the city treasury.
16 (b) "Agent" means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the
17 direction of an agency.
18 (c) "Benefits" means assistance and resources that a local government
19 provides to individuals in order to meet basic needs, such as but not
20 limited to food, shelter, financial security, education, and health
21 care, and other types of assistance or resources that may help improve
22 an individual's quality of life.
23 (d) "Care coordination" means coordination or case management of bene-
24 fits and services.
25 (e) "Human services agency" means an agency that delivers a service to
26 individuals or groups of individuals for the purpose of improving or
27 enhancing such individuals' health or welfare in circumstances including
28 but not limited to: domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, health prob-
29 lems, child abuse, nutritional deficiencies, suicide, hunger, unemploy-
30 ment, lack of suitable shelter, crime, drug and alcohol abuse and pover-
31 ty.
32 (f) "Personal information" means information collected by an agency
33 concerning an individual that, because of name, number, symbol, mark or
34 other identifier, can be used to identify that individual, and includes
35 data contained in an agency record about the individual's background,
36 circumstances, needs and services that have been provided to the indi-
37 vidual.
38 (g) "Services" means functions a local government performs for the
39 purpose of assisting individuals, including but not limited to educa-
40 tional efforts and outreach by a local government about benefits,
41 services, and care coordination.
42 4. Disclosure of personal information among agencies. Subject to any
43 restrictions imposed by federal law relating to the confidentiality of
44 personal information, other than laws requiring that records be sealed,
45 an agency may disclose the personal information of individuals that
46 would otherwise be restricted from disclosure to another agency or agent
47 thereof for the limited purpose of:
48 (a) providing benefits, services, or care coordination to individuals;
49 or
50 (b) a research study concerning the provision of benefits, services or
51 care coordination that is conducted by or on behalf of a local govern-
52 ment health or human services agency and is in compliance with applica-
53 ble local, state and federal laws relating to human subjects research.
54 5. The disclosure of personal information pursuant to this section
55 shall only be made subject to a written agreement between the parties
A. 5916 3
1 involved in the disclosure of the personal information, and such agree-
2 ment shall:
3 (a) be approved by legal counsel and the chief information security
4 officer for each agency that is a party to the agreement, and the local
5 government's chief privacy officer, where such a position exists;
6 (b) provide that access to the personal information to be shared is
7 limited to employees or agents of the parties that require such access
8 to fulfill their job functions in relation to providing the benefits,
9 services and care coordination described in such agreement;
10 (c) describe the type of personal information to be shared, how it is
11 to be shared, and the use and purpose relating to specific benefits,
12 services or care coordination to be furthered by the disclosure;
13 (d) prohibit the agency to which personal information shall be
14 disclosed from redisclosing, publishing or otherwise revealing such
15 personal information without written permission of the disclosing agen-
16 cy, except where required by law, and require that such redisclosure be
17 in accordance with a written agreement subject to the terms set forth in
18 this subdivision; and
19 (e) impose requirements governing the secure transmission, storage,
20 use and access to the disclosed personal information that are no less
21 stringent than those established by the local government agency that
22 directs, manages, and has authority over a city's cyber defense, inves-
23 tigation, response, and policy.
24 6. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to authorize the
25 disclosure of personal information among or between agencies of a local
26 government for any other purpose than providing or making available
27 benefits, services and care coordination to its populace or conducting a
28 research study pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision four of this
29 section, nor shall this section be interpreted to authorize disclosure
30 of personal information for the purposes of investigating an offense as
31 such term is defined in subdivision one of section 10.00 of the penal
32 law.
33 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
