Establishes the bright ideas rewarded program within the office of general services to solicit and review suggestions to improve the efficiency and economy of state government, and to reward those individuals who have made helpful suggestions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5615
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 13, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ERRIGO, ALFANO, BALL, FINCH, GIGLIO, HAWLEY,
KOLB, McKEVITT, TOWNSEND -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BARRA,
CROUCH, DUPREY, JORDAN, MOLINARO, SALADINO, SAYWARD, SPANO, WALKER,
WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental
Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing the
bright ideas rewarded program within the office of general services to
solicit, review and reward citizen suggestions to improve the effi-
ciency and economy of state government
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding two new sections
2 203-a and 203-b to read as follows:
3 § 203-a. Bright ideas rewarded program. The state office of general
4 services shall have power and it shall be its duty: (a) to formulate,
5 establish and maintain a plan or plans, to be known as the bright ideas
6 rewarded program, to encourage and reward suggestions by citizens to
7 promote efficiency and economy in the performance of state government;
8 (b) to appoint departmental or divisional boards or committees, from
9 among persons nominated therefor by the respective department or agency
10 heads, which shall analyze and review suggestions submitted for consid-
11 eration under such plan or plans and make recommendations thereon to the
12 agency; (c) to make and render merit awards to citizens nominated to
13 receive them in accordance with such plan or plans; and (d) to adopt and
14 promulgate rules and regulations governing the operation of any plan or
15 plans established under this article, the character and quality of
16 suggestions and accomplishments submitted for consideration, the method
17 of their submission and the procedure for their review, nominations for
18 merit awards, and the kind, character and value of such awards, and such
19 other rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary or appropriate
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05825-01-9
A. 5615 2
1 for the proper administration of this article or for the accomplishment
2 of the purposes thereof.
3 § 203-b. Awards. (a) The office of general services shall present the
4 citizen responsible, a cash award of no less than ten percent of the
5 first year annual savings to the state realized by the implementation of
6 such citizen's suggestion.
7 (b) The office of general services shall satisfy itself that the
8 savings to the state are real and not merely apparent, and that they are
9 not, in whole or in part, the result of any of the following:
10 1. a lowering of the level or quality of the service rendered;
11 2. reduced pass-through on transfer expenditures;
12 3. receipts realized in excess of amounts budgeted;
13 4. nonrecurrence of expenditures which were single outlay, or one-time
14 expenditures, in the preceding fiscal year;
15 5. failure to reward deserving employees through promotions, reclassi-
16 fication, award of merit salary increments, or salary increases author-
17 ized by salary range revisions;
18 6. postponement of normal purchases and repairs to a future fiscal
19 year;
20 7. stockpiling inventories in the immediately preceding fiscal year so
21 as to reduce requirements in the eligible fiscal year;
22 8. substitution of federal funds or any funds which are not state
23 funds for state appropriations;
24 9. unreasonable postponement of payments of accounts payable until the
25 fiscal year immediately following the eligible fiscal year;
26 10. shifting of expenses to another agency, department, commission, or
27 office of government;
28 11. any other practice, event, or device which the office of general
29 services decides has caused a distortion which misrepresents that a
30 savings or increase in level of services has occurred.
31 (c) The office of general services may consider but is not limited to
32 considering as legitimate savings those reductions in expenditures made
33 possible by such items as the following:
34 1. reductions in overtime;
35 2. elimination of consultant fees;
36 3. less temporary help;
37 4. improved methods of communication;
38 5. improved systems and procedures;
39 6. better development and utilization of manpower;
40 7. elimination of unnecessary travel;
41 8. elimination of unnecessary printing and mailing;
42 9. elimination of unnecessary payments for advertising, memberships,
43 dues, and subscriptions;
44 10. elimination of waste, duplication, and operations of doubtful
45 value;
46 11. improved space utilization;
47 12. proven cost-reduction techniques;
48 13. any other items considered by the office of general services as
49 representing true savings.
50 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
