Provides the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly the ability to appoint four members each of the state university of New York's board of trustees; reduces the members of such board the governor appoints to seven.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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8645
IN SENATE
February 26, 2024
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Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing the tempo-
rary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly the abil-
ity to appoint members of the state university of New York's board of
trustees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 353 of the education law, as
2 amended by chapter 268 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. The state university shall be governed, and all of its corporate
5 powers exercised, by a board of trustees. Such board shall consist of
6 eighteen members, [fifteen] seven of whom shall be appointed by the
7 governor [with the advice and consent of the senate] and who shall not
8 be an employee of, or under direct supervision of, the governor, four of
9 whom shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate, four
10 of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one of whom
11 shall be the president of the student assembly of the state university,
12 ex-officio and voting, one of whom shall be the president of the univer-
13 sity faculty senate, ex-officio and non-voting, and one of whom shall be
14 the president of the faculty council of community colleges, ex-officio
15 and non-voting. Such ex-officio members shall be subject to every
16 provision of any general, special, or local law, ordinance, charter,
17 code, rule, or regulation applying to the voting members of such board
18 with respect to the discharge of their duties, including, but not limit-
19 ed to, those provisions setting forth codes of ethics, disclosure
20 requirements, and prohibiting business and professional activities. One
21 member of the board shall be designated by the governor as chairperson
22 and one as vice-chairperson. Of the members first appointed, two shall
23 be appointed for a term which shall expire on June thirtieth, nineteen
24 hundred fifty-two; one for a term which shall expire on June thirtieth,
25 nineteen hundred fifty-three; two for a term which shall expire on June
26 thirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-four; one for a term which shall
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09021-03-4
S. 8645 2
1 expire on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-five; two for a term
2 which shall expire on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-six; one
3 for a term which shall expire on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred
4 fifty-seven; two for a term which shall expire on June thirtieth, nine-
5 teen hundred fifty-eight; one for a term which shall expire on June
6 thirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-nine; two for a term which shall
7 expire on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred sixty; and one for a term
8 which shall expire on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred sixty-one. Vacan-
9 cies shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as
10 original appointments are made pursuant to this subdivision and subdivi-
11 sion one-a of this section. The term of office of each trustee
12 appointed on or after April first, nineteen hundred eighty-six shall be
13 seven years, except those of the student member and the faculty members.
14 Trustees shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be
15 reimbursed for their expenses actually and necessarily incurred by them
16 in the performance of their duties under this article.
17 § 2. Section 353 of the education law is amended by adding a new
18 subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
19 1-a. The appointment of members of such board by the temporary presi-
20 dent of the senate and the speaker of the assembly pursuant to subdivi-
21 sion one of this section shall commence when a vacancy occurs from a
22 member appointed by the governor either through the expiration of such
23 member's term, or separation of a member prior to an expired term. In
24 either case, vacancies of members appointed by the governor shall be
25 filled in an alternating manner between the temporary president of the
26 senate and the speaker of the assembly. The first such vacancy of a
27 member appointed by the governor shall be filled by the temporary presi-
28 dent of the senate and the next such vacancy of a member appointed by
29 the governor shall be filled by the speaker of the assembly. Such
30 vacancies shall continue to be filled in such alternating manner until
31 such time as the composition of such board reflects the number of
32 appointments authorized by each appointing authority pursuant to subdi-
33 vision one of this section. After such time, vacancies on such board
34 shall be filled by the appointing authority.
35 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
