Restricts the imposition of additional unfunded mandates on local governments by the state until such time as those mandates are fully funded by the state; provides for certain exceptions; provides that a three-fifths majority in each house shall override this restriction.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3211
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 11, 2011
___________
Introduced by Sen. MARTINS -- 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 legislative law, in relation to restricting the
imposition of unfunded mandates on political subdivisions of the state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that
2 state government imposes numerous program and service requirements on
3 its local governments without fully considering the fiscal impacts of
4 these requirements. Such unfunded mandates require local governments
5 already experiencing considerable economic hardship to provide new or
6 significantly expanded programs and services without the funding neces-
7 sary to carry out those mandates. Because unfunded mandates aggravate
8 the fiscal difficulty that some local governments are now experiencing,
9 the state must consider the burdens of unfunded mandates before imposing
10 additional such requirements on local governments. The legislature
11 therefore declares that it is appropriate that state government provide
12 funding for mandates it imposes on local governments.
13 The legislature also finds that some mandates are critical to preserv-
14 ing the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state. Because
15 it is impractical to shift immediately to full state funding of all
16 state mandates, and recognizing the need to curtail the transfer of
17 program and service expenses from the state to local governments, the
18 legislature declares its intent to restrict the imposition of additional
19 unfunded mandates on local governments until such time as these mandates
20 are fully funded by the state.
21 § 2. The legislative law is amended by adding a new section 51-a to
22 read as follows:
23 § 51-a. State mandates on political subdivisions of the state. 1.
24 Definitions. As used in this section:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00353-01-1
S. 3211 2
1 (a) the term "political subdivision" means any county, city, town,
2 village, school district or special district, or any agency, authority,
3 commission, department or instrumentality thereof.
4 (b) the term "qualifying bill" means any bill or amendment to a bill
5 filed on or after the effective date of this section which establishes a
6 state program, significantly changes services required to be provided by
7 such program, or results in a change in revenues or expenses of any
8 political subdivision.
9 2. No qualifying bill having a direct impact on any political subdivi-
10 sion in excess of ten thousand dollars per year, or on two or more poli-
11 tical subdivisions collectively or on a city with a population of one
12 million or more in excess of one hundred thousand dollars per year,
13 shall be operative on such political subdivision or city unless the
14 legislation having such impact requires the state to provide a full
15 subvention of funds from the state to reimburse any affected political
16 subdivision or city for the reasonable and necessary cost thereof.
17 3. A law subject to the provisions of subdivision two of this section
18 shall make an initial appropriation therein in the amount sufficient to
19 pay in full any net additional cost of compliance necessarily incurred
20 by the affected political subdivision in that fiscal year. Thereafter,
21 the state shall provide funding for continuing programs or services
22 subject to the provisions of subdivision two of this section in the
23 annual appropriations act or supplemental acts thereto or in appropri-
24 ations of bond moneys or other designated sources of funding.
25 4. Notwithstanding any other provision in this section to the contra-
26 ry, the following categories of bills shall not be considered unfunded
27 mandates:
28 (a) those which are required to comply with federal laws or rules or
29 to meet eligibility standards for federal entitlements;
30 (b) those which are imposed on both government and non-government
31 entities in the same or substantially similar circumstances;
32 (c) those which permit, establish or enable only optional programs or
33 services;
34 (d) those which are budget bills submitted by the governor pursuant to
35 article seven of the constitution, but only if such bills implement,
36 revise, amend or continue programs or mandates which currently exist and
37 such bills do not impose any new mandates which, if taken by themselves,
38 would otherwise be subject to the restrictions of this section;
39 (e) those which repeal, revise, or ease an existing mandate or
40 requirement, or which reapportion the costs of activities between boards
41 of education, counties and municipalities;
42 (f) those which stem from failure to comply with previously enacted
43 laws, or rules or regulations issued pursuant to a law;
44 (g) those which arise from a ruling by a court of competent jurisdic-
45 tion;
46 (h) those which arise from an executive order of the governor exercis-
47 ing his emergency powers;
48 (i) those which implement provisions of the constitution of the state
49 of New York;
50 (j) those which are enacted after a public hearing, held after public
51 notice that unfunded mandates will be considered, for which a fiscal
52 analysis is available at the time of the public hearing and which, in
53 addition to complying with all other requirements with regard to the
54 enactment of a law, are passed by a three-fifths vote of both the senate
55 and assembly; and
S. 3211 3
1 (k) those which are the result of the passage of a home rule message
2 whereby a local government requests authority to implement the program
3 or service specified in the statute, and the statute imposes costs only
4 upon that local government which requests the authority to impose the
5 program or service.
6 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
7 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
