Amd §§86 & 87, add §87-a, Pub Off L; amd §103, St Tech L
Requires public disclosure of certain state agency materials, and authorizes the office for technology to publish a technical standards manual for the publishing of records on the internet by state agencies.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1074
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
ment Operations
AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to requiring public
disclosure of certain state agency materials; and to amend the state
technology law, in relation to authorizing the office of information
technology services to publish a technical standards manual for the
publishing of records on the internet by state agencies
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known as and may be cited as the "Open
2 New York Act".
3 § 2. Section 86 of the public officers law is amended by adding four
4 new subdivisions 12, 13, 14 and 15 to read as follows:
5 12. "Consensus" means general agreement, but not necessarily unanimi-
6 ty, and includes a process for attempting to resolve objections by
7 interested parties, as long as all comments have been fairly considered.
8 13. "Technical standard" means (a) the common and repeated use of
9 rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related
10 processes and production methods, and related management systems prac-
11 tices and (b) the definition of terms; classification of components,
12 delineation of procedures; specifications of dimensions, materials,
13 performance, designs or operations; measurement of quality and quantity
14 in describing materials, processes, products, systems, services or prac-
15 tices; test methods and sampling procedures; or descriptions of fit and
16 measurements of size or strength.
17 14. "Voluntary consensus standards" means standards developed or
18 adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies, both domestic and
19 international. These standards include provisions requiring that owners
20 of relevant intellectual property agree to make such intellectual prop-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01659-01-5
S. 1074 2
1 erty available on a non-discriminatory, royalty-free or reasonable
2 royalty basis to all interested parties.
3 15. "Voluntary consensus standards bodies" means domestic or interna-
4 tional organizations which plan, develop, establish, or coordinate
5 voluntary consensus standards using agreed-upon procedures.
6 § 3. The opening paragraph of paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of
7 section 87 of the public officers law, as added by chapter 223 of the
8 laws of 2008, is amended and a new subdivision 2-a is added to read as
9 follows:
10 In determining the actual cost of reproducing a physical copy of a
11 record, an agency may include only:
12 2-a. All records available pursuant to the provisions of this section
13 shall be available in electronic form pursuant to the provisions of this
14 section and in accordance with the provisions of section eighty-seven-a
15 of this article.
16 § 4. The public officers law is amended by adding a new section 87-a
17 to read as follows:
18 § 87-a. State internet records policy. 1. (a) The committee on open
19 government shall promulgate rules establishing an internet record policy
20 for the state of New York no later than January third, two thousand
21 twenty-six, for the purposes of making agency records available on the
22 internet and ensuring agency compliance with the provisions of this
23 article. Such policy shall include, but not be limited to, guidelines to
24 assist agencies in classifying their records either as immediate, prior-
25 ity, legacy or exempt pursuant to the agency compliance plan described
26 in subdivision two of this section.
27 (b) The committee on open government shall consult with the office of
28 information technology services regarding the preparation, publication
29 and periodic updating of a technical standards manual for the publishing
30 of records on the internet by state agencies as provided in subdivision
31 twelve-c of section one hundred three of the state technology law.
32 (c) Each state agency, in consultation with the office of information
33 technology services and the committee on open government, shall review
34 all records under its control and shall classify them as immediate,
35 priority, legacy or exempt in accordance with the provisions of subdivi-
36 sion three of this section.
37 (d) Each state agency, in consultation with the office of information
38 technology services and the committee on open government, shall submit
39 an agency compliance plan to the governor and the legislature no later
40 than January third, two thousand twenty-seven. Such plan shall describe
41 how such agency intends to achieve full compliance with the provisions
42 of this section by July seventh, two thousand thirty, and shall include
43 an accounting of all records under the control of the agency and how
44 such records have been classified pursuant to subdivision two of this
45 section.
46 2. (a) Each state agency shall make its records available for
47 inspection by the public on the internet through a single web portal
48 pursuant to the timetable established by the agency in its agency
49 compliance plan.
50 (b) All records shall be available on a permanent basis, in machine-
51 readable and unprocessed electronic format and in their complete form,
52 except for those records or portions of records classified as exempt
53 pursuant to subdivision three of this section.
54 (c) All records shall be available to the public without any registra-
55 tion requirement, license requirement, fees, or restrictions on their
56 use unless otherwise provided by law.
S. 1074 3
1 3. State agency records shall be classified as follows:
2 (a) immediate: any record in possession of an agency as of the effec-
3 tive date of this section and any record such agency acquires or creates
4 after such effective date through January third, two thousand twenty-
5 seven, that can be made available on the internet pursuant to the
6 provisions of section eighty-seven of this article within thirty days of
7 the agency acquiring or creating such record shall be classified as
8 immediate. Agencies should make best efforts to classify as many records
9 as immediate as is possible. Any record acquired or created after Janu-
10 ary third, two thousand twenty-nine, shall be classified as immediate,
11 and shall be made available pursuant to the provisions of section eight-
12 y-seven of this article in as close to real-time as possible;
13 (b) legacy: any record that, due to its size or complexity, or due to
14 technology constraints, cannot be made available on the internet pursu-
15 ant to the provisions of section eighty-seven of this article by July
16 seventh, two thousand thirty, shall be classified as legacy. Agencies
17 shall make best efforts to avoid placing records into the legacy classi-
18 fication;
19 (c) priority: any record that is not classified as immediate, legacy
20 or exempt shall be classified as priority; or
21 (d) exempt: any record or portion of a record which is not required to
22 be disclosed pursuant to the provisions of subdivision two of section
23 eighty-seven of this article shall be classified as exempt.
24 4. State agency records shall be made available on the internet
25 according to the following schedule:
26 (a) records classified as immediate shall be available no later than
27 July fourth, two thousand twenty-seven;
28 (b) records classified as priority shall be available no later than
29 July second, two thousand twenty-eight;
30 (c) records classified as legacy shall be available no later than July
31 seventh, two thousand twenty-nine;
32 (d) records or portions of records specified as exempt shall be exempt
33 from the provisions of this section.
34 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (c) of subdivision one
35 of section eighty-seven of this article, no fees may be charged for
36 physical copies of records:
37 (a) which are classified as immediate according to the provisions of
38 this section and which are not available pursuant to provisions of this
39 section on or after July fourth, two thousand twenty-seven;
40 (b) which are classified as priority according to the provisions of
41 this section and which are not available pursuant to provisions of this
42 section on or after July second, two thousand twenty-eight; or
43 (c) which are classified as legacy according to the provisions of this
44 section and which are not available pursuant to provisions of this
45 section on or after July seventh, two thousand twenty-nine.
46 § 5. Section 103 of the state technology law is amended by adding two
47 new subdivisions 5-a and 12-c to read as follows:
48 5-a. To establish, oversee, manage, coordinate and facilitate the
49 planning, design and implementation of a single web portal for use by
50 state agencies in making records available to the public as provided in
51 section eighty-seven-a of the public officers law;
52 12-c. In consultation with the committee on open government, to
53 prepare and publish a technical standards manual for the publishing of
54 records on the internet by state agencies as provided in article six of
55 the public officers law no later than January third, two thousand twen-
56 ty-seven, and shall base such manual on technical standards for web
S. 1074 4
1 publishing and e-government that have been developed or adopted by
2 voluntary consensus standards bodies. Such manual shall be updated by
3 the office, in conjunction with the committee on open government, as
4 necessary. The office shall consult with voluntary consensus standards
5 bodies and shall, when such participation is feasible, in the public
6 interest and is compatible with agency and departmental missions,
7 authorities, priorities, and budget resources, participate with such
8 bodies in the development of technical standards. The office shall
9 promulgate and adopt all necessary rules and regulations to ensure that
10 state agencies publish their records on the internet in accordance with
11 such technical standards manual;
12 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
