Relates to the sale or transfer of certain real property by the state or public authorities; requires mandatory review by the attorney general and comptroller of the sale of certain real property; requires notice to members of the legislature and county executives in districts and counties in which land subject to transfer is located of the proposed transfer of state property between state departments, divisions, bureaus, agencies, state agencies, or to a public authority or public benefit corporation.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3151
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 27, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities
and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the public authorities law and the public lands law, in
relation to the sale or transfer of certain real property by the state
or public authorities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2897 of the public authorities law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 8 to read as follows:
3 8. Comptroller and attorney general approval of contracts. a. Negoti-
4 ated contracts for the disposal of real property with an estimated fair
5 market value in excess of two hundred fifty thousand dollars to a
6 private entity shall require supervision in the form of prior review and
7 approval of such contracts and any such contract entered into shall be
8 submitted to the comptroller and the attorney general for their approval
9 and shall not be a valid enforceable contract unless it shall first have
10 been so approved. The comptroller, in consultation with the attorney
11 general, shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary
12 to carry out their responsibilities under this section, including but
13 not limited to the standards for approving contracts subject to this
14 subdivision.
15 b. Where a contract is subject to mandatory review by the comptroller
16 and the attorney general pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision,
17 the vendor public authority shall include or cause to be included in
18 each such contract a provision informing the other party that such
19 contract is subject to the comptroller's and the attorney general's
20 approval pursuant to this subdivision and the comptroller's authority to
21 supervise the accounts of public corporations. If the comptroller and
22 the attorney general have not approved or disapproved any contract
23 subject to his or her approval within ninety days of submission to his
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07582-01-1
S. 3151 2
1 or her office, such contract shall become valid and enforceable without
2 such approval.
3 § 2. The public lands law is amended by adding a new section 33-a to
4 read as follows:
5 § 33-a. Comptroller and attorney general approval of private sale
6 contracts. 1. To the extent a public sale is not required and a negoti-
7 ated contract for the disposal of unappropriated state lands with an
8 estimated fair market value in excess of one hundred thousand dollars to
9 a private entity is deemed authorized by the provisions of this article
10 or any other provision of law, rule or regulation, such negotiated
11 contract shall require supervision in the form of prior review and
12 approval of such contract and any such contract entered into shall be
13 submitted to the comptroller and the attorney general for their approval
14 and shall not be a valid enforceable contract unless it shall first
15 have been so approved. The comptroller, in consultation with the attor-
16 ney general, shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be
17 necessary to carry out their responsibilities under this section,
18 including but not limited to the standards for approving contracts
19 subject to this subdivision.
20 2. Where a contract is subject to mandatory review by the comptroller
21 and the attorney general pursuant to subdivision one of this section,
22 the vendor shall include or cause to be included in each such contract a
23 provision informing the other party that such contract is subject to the
24 comptroller's and the attorney general's approval pursuant to this
25 section. If the comptroller and the attorney general have not approved
26 or disapproved any contract subject to his or her approval within ninety
27 days of submission to his or her office, such contract shall become
28 valid and enforceable without such approval.
29 3. The provisions of this section shall be effective notwithstanding
30 the provisions of any other general or special law relating to the
31 disposal of lands belonging to the state, and any such statute or parts
32 thereof relating to such disposal of state lands insofar as they are
33 inconsistent with the provisions of this section are hereby superseded.
34 § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 3 of the public lands law, as amended by
35 chapter 672 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
36 4. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or other
37 statute, the commissioner of general services, upon the application of
38 any state department, or a division, bureau or agency thereof, or upon
39 the application of any state agency, may transfer to such state depart-
40 ment, division, bureau, or agency, or state agency, the jurisdiction
41 over any lands, including lands under water, abandoned canal lands and
42 salt springs reservation land, upon such terms and conditions as the
43 commissioner may deem just and proper and upon the consent of the
44 department, or a division, bureau or agency thereof, or any state agen-
45 cy, already having jurisdiction over such lands and notwithstanding any
46 other provision of this chapter or other statute, authority to give such
47 consent is hereby conferred upon the head of any such state department,
48 or a division, bureau or agency thereof, or any state agency; provided,
49 however, that if the commissioner of general services determines that
50 any such land under the jurisdiction of any state department, or a divi-
51 sion, bureau or agency thereof, or any state agency other than a public
52 authority or public benefit corporation is under utilized or is not
53 being utilized in a manner consistent with the best interests of the
54 state, such commissioner may on his own initiative, and without the
55 application or consent referred to above but subject to the procedure
56 and review provided in section two-a of this article, transfer the
S. 3151 3
1 jurisdiction over such land to any other state department, or a divi-
2 sion, bureau or agency thereof, or any other state agency other than a
3 public authority or public benefit corporation.
4 b. Should such land be under the jurisdiction of the office of mental
5 health or the office for people with developmental disabilities upon
6 which a community residential facility for the disabled as defined in
7 section 41.34 of the mental hygiene law exists, the commissioner of
8 general services shall, prior to transferring the jurisdiction over such
9 land to any other state department, or a division, bureau or agency
10 thereof, or any other state agency other than a public authority or
11 public benefit corporation offer such land for sale at public auction
12 pursuant to section thirty-three of this chapter; provided, however,
13 that the provisions of section four hundred six of the eminent domain
14 procedure law shall apply to such property.
15 c. No transfer of land, as described in this subdivision, or grant or
16 conveyance of land to a public authority or public benefit corporation
17 shall be deemed valid unless notice is provided in writing to each
18 member of the legislature in whose district any portion of the land
19 subject to the proposed transfer is located. Such notice shall provide
20 a description of the land, identification of the proposed transferor and
21 transferee state departments, divisions, bureaus, agencies, state agen-
22 cies, public authorities or public benefit corporations and the terms
23 and conditions of the proposed transfer. Unless within thirty days from
24 the date such notice is given, a member of the legislature entitled to
25 notice pursuant to this paragraph objects to such proposed action, the
26 commissioner of general services may effect such transfer of jurisdic-
27 tion. If within thirty days of the giving of such notice, a member of
28 the legislature entitled to notice pursuant to this paragraph objects to
29 the action proposed by the commissioner of general services by filing
30 notice to such effect with the commissioner of general services, such
31 proposed action shall be reviewed by the director of the budget and the
32 secretary of state. They shall affirm or reverse the proposed action by
33 the commissioner and that decision shall be final. If they affirm the
34 proposed action or fail to render a determination within six months of
35 the date of the notice, the commissioner may thereupon effect such
36 transfer.
37 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
38 have become a law.
