Relates to establishing penalties for institutions of higher education that fail to comply with certain disclosure requirements relating to gifts made by foreign governments, persons and entities; provides that the department may take steps to initiate an audit if the institution continues to remain in noncompliance of the disclosure requirements.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9028
IN ASSEMBLY
January 10, 2020
___________
Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing penalties
for institutions of higher education which do not comply with certain
gift disclosure requirements
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 207-a of the education law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 5 to read as follows:
3 5. a. In the event an institution of higher education fails to comply
4 with the disclosure requirements of subdivision three of this section,
5 the department shall immediately provide a notification to such institu-
6 tion of higher education that it may be subject to a full audit to be
7 conducted by the state comptroller if the disclosure requirements are
8 not met within twenty-five days of such notification.
9 b. In the event an institution of higher education fails to comply
10 with the disclosure requirements of subdivision three of this section
11 within the twenty-five days provided for in paragraph a of this subdivi-
12 sion, upon the expiration of such twenty-five days the department may
13 request the state comptroller to initiate a full audit of the institu-
14 tion of higher education. The results of such audit may be made avail-
15 able to the public at the discretion of the department.
16 c. In the event an audit is conducted pursuant to this subdivision and
17 the institution of higher education is found to have unlawfully withheld
18 from the department disclosure information required by this section, the
19 department may seek damages in a court of competent jurisdiction. The
20 department may seek such damages for:
21 (i) any gifts received from foreign governments, foreign legal enti-
22 ties, or foreign persons, or an equivalent value of any such gifts; or
23 (ii) punitive damages that shall not exceed the lesser of ten percent
24 of the value of the gift received, or seventy-five thousand dollars.
25 Any damages received, less court costs and costs arising from the audit,
26 shall be awarded to the university of the state of New York.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14406-01-9
A. 9028 2
1 d. The department shall have the authority to forgive any failure to
2 comply with subdivision three of this section, and excuse any damages
3 that an institution of higher education has incurred as result of
4 noncompliance with this section.
5 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
