NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6707
SPONSOR: Solages TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to the public posting
of certain contracts otherwise subject to prior approval of the comp-
troller
PURPOSE:
This legislation amends the State Finance Law to require a listing of
all exempted and emergency State contracts to be publicly posted.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill amends the State Finance Law by adding a new
section 149 to provide the following:
State Finance Law section 149 (1) provides definitions for "emergency
contracts" and "exempted contracts" as they are used in this section.
State Finance Law section 149 (2) requires that all emergency and
exempted contracts be publicly posted in a list by the contracting
entity. Each contract shall be published with:
* the relevant emergency declaration or provision suspending or
exempting prior Comptroller review;
* a brief description of the contract, including, the amount of the
contract, the name of the vendor(s), the contract term, what is
being provided by the contract, and if the contract is an emergency
contract, a statement explaining how the contract relates to the
declared state disaster emergency; and
* a statement explaining whether the contract was chosen on a
competitive basis, and if not, an explanation why a competitive
process was not undertaken.
State Finance Law section 149 (3) provides that this section cannot be
suspended, modified, or altered by the governor during a state disas-
ter emergency pursuant to section twenty-nine-a of the executive law.
Section 2 of this bill provides for an effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Providing independent review and oversight of State entity contracts is
a core function of the Office of the State Comptroller. OSC oversight
promotes transparency, enhances accountability and protects taxpayers,
agencies, not-for-profit organizations and vendors contracting with the
State by validating that a contract's costs are reasonable, its terms
are favorable to the State, and a level playing field existed for all
bidders.
Over the last decade, it has become common practice to exempt certain
contracts from OSC review and approval through Executive and Legislative
actions. This bill intends to restore transparency and shine a light on
contracts that have been exempted from OSC review and approval by
requiring the State entity to publicly post a listing of any such
contracts executed under a Legislative exemption or pursuant to an Exec-
utive exemption, such as a state disaster emergency. This bill also
requires the State agency or State authority to note the Executive
action or Legislative action that exempted such contract, and to provide
a brief description of the contract.
This effort would improve transparency in the State government contract-
ing process and increase accountability in State government.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: A.10281/S.9171, vetoed, Veto Memo 89
2023: S.6941/A.7404, similar proposal, vetoed, Veto Memo 144
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill will take effect on the thirtieth day after it has become law.
