NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6611A
SPONSOR: Bores TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to the law revision
commission
PURPOSE OF BILL:
To expand the members of the law revision commission from 5 to 9
members, modify the process for selection, clarify the Commission's
purposes, and provide a dedicated funding stream for the Commission.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 expands board membership. Currently, the governor appoints
five members. This bill would add four additional members to be
appointed, one each, by the temporary president of the senate, the
speaker of the assembly, the chief judge of the court of appeals, and
the attorney general.
Section 2 makes a technical amendment.
Section 3 makes technical amendments and clarifies the Commission's
purposes including that requests from the governor, members of the
legislature, court of appeals judges, and the attorney general will be
prioritized for review.
Section 4 creates a designated funding stream within the joint custody
of the comptroller nd the commissioner of taxation and finance to be
designated as the law revision commission fund.
Section 5 sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Justice Benjamin Cardozo, in 1921, frustrated with obsolete laws that
prevented courts from being able to impart justice, advocated for the
creation of a state agency that would be responsible for carrying out
legal research on statutory and decisional law, and make recommendations
to the Legislature'. In 1934, in response to Cardozo's recommendation,
the Legislature established the Law Revision Commission,2 an independ-
ent, governmental body (oldest of its kind in the common-law world)
charged with law reform through legislation.
Over the next 82 years, the Commission's recommendations led to the
enactment of more than 300 statutes. In addition, its reports identified
problems and made recommendations that were instrumental in effecting
changes in judge-made law.
At its peak, in the early 2000s, the Commission operated with over a
dozen full time staff, including lawyers and administrative support
personnel, allowing it to properly carry out its functions. Unfortu-
nately, a series of budget cuts culminating with the Commission being
completely defunded in 2016, in conjunction with the then Governor
Andrew Cuomo's decision to stop appointing members to the Commission
(last appointment was in 2014), effectively ended the Commission.
By giving the Legislature, the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, and
the Attorney General the capacity to appoint Commission members and by
creating a dedicated funding stream, this bill would breathe new life
into the Commission, allowing it to once again serve its essential role
in ensuring that the state's legal framework remains up-to-date, clear,
and effective.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TO be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
1 Harvard Law Review, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Dec., 1921)
2 Chapter 597 of the Laws of 1934
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6611--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 6, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BORES -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations -- recommitted to the Committee on Govern-
mental Operations in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the legislative law, in relation to the law revision
commission
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 70 of the legislative law, as amended by chapter
2 239 of the laws of 1944, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 70. Commission [created] continued; terms and qualifications of
4 members. A law revision commission is hereby [created] continued, [to]
5 and shall consist of the [chairman] chairs of the committees on the
6 judiciary and codes of the senate and assembly, ex-officio, and [five]
7 nine additional members, five members to be appointed by the governor,
8 one member to be appointed by the temporary president of the senate, one
9 member to be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one member to be
10 appointed by the chief judge of the court of appeals and one member to
11 be appointed by the attorney general. The members first appointed by the
12 governor following the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two
13 thousand twenty-six that amended this section shall be appointed for
14 such terms that the term of one member will expire on each succeeding
15 thirty-first day of December. The member first appointed by the tempo-
16 rary president of the senate shall be appointed for a term of three
17 years. The member first appointed by the speaker of the assembly shall
18 be appointed for a term of five years. The member first appointed by
19 the chief judge of the court of appeals shall be appointed for a term of
20 four years. The member first appointed by the attorney general shall be
21 appointed for a term of five years. The term of a member thereafter
22 appointed, except to fill a vacancy occurring otherwise than by expira-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09292-03-6
A. 6611--A 2
1 tion of term, shall be five years from the expiration of the term of
2 [his] such member's predecessor. A vacancy in the office of a member
3 [appointed by the governor] occurring otherwise than by expiration of
4 term, shall be filled by the [governor] appointing authority for only
5 the remainder [only] of the term of such member's predecessor. [Upon
6 making the original appointments] In July of each year, the [governor]
7 commission's membership shall designate one of the appointed members as
8 [chairman] chair of the commission. [Upon] A vacancy in the [appoint-
9 ment] office of [a successor to] the [chairman] chair of the commission
10 occurring otherwise than by expiration of term, [the governor] shall
11 [designate such successor or other member of] be filled by the [commis-
12 sion as chairman] commission's membership for only the remainder of the
13 term of such chair's predecessor. Four members appointed by the governor
14 shall be attorneys and counselors at law, admitted to practice in the
15 courts of this state, or members of law faculties of universities or law
16 schools within the state recognized by the board of regents of the state
17 of New York, and at least two of [them] such members shall be members of
18 law faculties of universities or law schools within the state recognized
19 by the board of regents of the state of New York. The commission shall
20 meet in person or virtually at least on a quarterly basis.
21 § 2. Section 71 of the legislative law, as amended by chapter 358 of
22 the laws of 1961, is amended to read as follows:
23 § 71. Expenses; employees. Each of the members of the commission
24 appointed by the governor or by members of the legislature shall receive
25 reimbursement for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of
26 official duty. The commission may appoint such employees as may be need-
27 ed, prescribe their duties, and fix their compensation within the amount
28 appropriated for the commission.
29 § 3. Section 72 of the legislative law, as added by chapter 597 of the
30 laws of 1934, is amended to read as follows:
31 § 72. Purposes of commission. It shall be the duty of the law revision
32 commission:
33 1. To examine the common law and statutes of the state and current
34 judicial decisions [for the purpose of discovering defects and anachro-
35 nisms in the law] and recommending needed reforms.
36 2. To receive and consider suggested areas of study and proposed
37 changes in the law recommended by judges, justices, public officials,
38 lawyers, the American law institute, the [commissioners for the
39 promotion of uniformity of legislation in the United States] Uniform Law
40 Commission, [any] bar [association or] associations, other learned
41 bodies, or the general public. Suggestions for areas of study made by
42 statute, the governor, members of the legislature, court of appeals
43 judges, or the attorney general shall be given priority review for
44 consideration by the commission.
45 3. [To receive and consider suggestions from judges, justices, public
46 officials, lawyers and the public generally as to defects and anachro-
47 nisms in the law.
48 4.] To recommend, from time to time, such changes in the law as it
49 deems necessary to modify or eliminate antiquated [and] or inequitable
50 rules of law, and to bring the law of this state, civil and criminal,
51 into harmony with modern conditions.
52 [5.] 4. To report its proceedings annually to the legislature on or
53 before February first, and, if it deems advisable, to accompany its
54 report with proposed bills to carry out any of its recommendations.
55 § 4. The legislative law is amended by adding a new section 73 to read
56 as follows:
A. 6611--A 3
1 § 73. Funding of the commission. There is hereby established in the
2 joint custody of the comptroller and commissioner of taxation and
3 finance a fund to be designated as the law revision commission fund. The
4 commissioner shall deposit into the law revision commission fund all
5 moneys appropriated to the law revision commission. The moneys so
6 received and deposited in the law revision commission fund shall not be
7 commingled with moneys from the general fund and shall be used solely
8 for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article.
9 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
