Relates to the term "reportable business relationship" as it relates to certain employees of the state university of New York and the city university of New York.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A617A
SPONSOR: Shimsky
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to the term "reportable
business relationship" as it relates to certain employees of the state
university of New York and the city university of New York
 
PURPOSE:
This legislation would exclude faculty at SUNY and CUNY from the defi-
nition of covered employee as it relates to a reportable business
relationship.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Subdivision (w) of Section 1-C of the legislative law,
as added by section 8 of part A of chapter 399 of the laws of 2011.
Specifically states that the term reportable business relationship shall
not include an individual whose only state employment is through SUNY or
CUNY as a professor, adjunct professor, lecturer, instructor, assistant
professor, associate professor or similar teaching role and is employed
in a similar role at the college or university that does not supervise
other state employees or manage grant-funded projects or research.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Under New York's lobby laws, disclosure of a business relationship is
required to ensure conflicts of interest and ensure transparency.
However, under this law there are unintended consequences that are
created and not reflective of the goals of this important law. This
legislation would exempt an individual whose only state employment is as
a SUNY or CUNY professor who then is hired to teach at an independent
college. The intent of the current law is to ensure policy making indi-
viduals involved in State government must be transparent with their
business relationships. However, a SUNY or CUNY professor is not in a
policy making position. Having a SUNY or CUNY professor covered by this
law results in an unnecessary cost and acts as a roadblock and disincen-
tive to the hiring of these well qualified individuals.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S3506a/A6719a; Referred to Governmental Operations
2021-2022: S. 202/A. 5321; Veto 38
2019-2020: S. 6325/A. 8267; Referred to Governmental Operations
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
617--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SHIMSKY, REYES, SCHIAVONI, LEVENBERG, GLICK --
read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the legislative law, in relation to the term "reportable
business relationship" as it relates to certain employees of the state
university of New York and the city university of New York
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision (w) of section 1-c of the legislative law, as
2 added by section 8 of part A of chapter 399 of the laws of 2011, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (w) The term "reportable business relationship" shall mean a relation-
5 ship in which compensation is paid by a lobbyist or by a client of a
6 lobbyist, in exchange for any goods, services or anything of value, the
7 total value of which is in excess of one thousand dollars annually, to
8 be performed or provided by or intended to be performed or provided by
9 (i) any statewide elected official, state officer, state employee,
10 member of the legislature or legislative employee, or (ii) any entity in
11 which the lobbyist or the client of a lobbyist knows or has reason to
12 know the statewide elected official, state officer, state employee,
13 member of the legislature or legislative employee is a proprietor, part-
14 ner, director, officer or manager, or owns or controls ten percent or
15 more of the stock of such entity (or one percent in the case of a corpo-
16 ration whose stock is regularly traded on an established securities
17 exchange). Provided, however, that such term shall not include a
18 relationship between an individual and a college or university, as such
19 terms are defined in section two of the education law, when such indi-
20 vidual is employed by such college or university as a teaching profes-
21 sor, adjunct professor, lecturer, instructor, assistant professor, asso-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00242-05-5
A. 617--A 2
1 ciate professor, or similar teaching role, when such individual's only
2 state employment is through the state university of New York or the city
3 university of New York as a teaching professor, adjunct professor,
4 lecturer, instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or simi-
5 lar teaching role that does not include the supervision of other state
6 employees or the management of grant-funded projects or research.
7 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.