NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6611
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 10
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 five additional members to be
appointed, one each, by the temporary president of the senate, the
minority leader of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority
leader of the assembly, 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 and 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 (theoldest 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 was appointment in 2014), effectively ended the Commission.
By giving the Legislature 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. Harvard Law Review, Vol. 35,
No. 2 (Dec., 1921) 2 Chapter 597 of the Laws of 1934
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6611
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
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 ten 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 minority leader of the senate, one member
10 to be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one member to be
11 appointed by the minority leader of the assembly, and one member to be
12 appointed by the attorney general. The members first appointed by the
13 governor following the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two
14 thousand twenty-five that amended this section shall be appointed for
15 such terms that the term of one member will expire on each succeeding
16 thirty-first day of December. Members first appointed by the temporary
17 president of the senate and the minority leader of the senate shall be
18 appointed for a term of three years. Members first appointed by the
19 speaker of the assembly and the minority leader of the assembly shall be
20 appointed for a term of five years. The member first appointed by the
21 attorney general shall be appointed for a term of five years. The term
22 of a member thereafter appointed, except to fill a vacancy occurring
23 otherwise than by expiration of term, shall be five years from the expi-
24 ration of the term of [his] such member's predecessor. A vacancy in the
25 office of a member [appointed by the governor] occurring otherwise than
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09292-01-5
A. 6611 2
1 by expiration of term, shall be filled by the [governor] appointing
2 authority for only the remainder [only] of the term of such member's
3 predecessor. [Upon making the original appointments] In July of each
4 year, the [governor] commission's membership shall designate one of the
5 appointed members as [chairman] chair of the commission. [Upon] A vacan-
6 cy in the [appointment] office of [a successor to] the [chairman] chair
7 of the commission occurring otherwise than by expiration of term, [the
8 governor] shall [designate such successor or other member of] be filled
9 by the [commission as chairman] commission's membership for only the
10 remainder of the term of such chair's predecessor. Four members
11 appointed by the governor shall be attorneys and counselors at law,
12 admitted to practice in the courts of this state, or members of law
13 faculties of universities or law schools within the state recognized by
14 the board of regents of the state of New York, and at least two of
15 [them] such members shall be members of law faculties of universities or
16 law schools within the state recognized by the board of regents of the
17 state of New York. The commission shall meet in person or virtually at
18 least on a quarterly basis.
19 § 2. Section 71 of the legislative law, as amended by chapter 358 of
20 the laws of 1961, is amended to read as follows:
21 § 71. Expenses; employees. Each of the members of the commission
22 appointed by the governor or by members of the legislature shall receive
23 reimbursement for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of
24 official duty. The commission may appoint such employees as may be need-
25 ed, prescribe their duties, and fix their compensation within the amount
26 appropriated for the commission.
27 § 3. Section 72 of the legislative law, as added by chapter 597 of the
28 laws of 1934, is amended to read as follows:
29 § 72. Purposes of commission. It shall be the duty of the law revision
30 commission:
31 1. To examine the common law and statutes of the state and current
32 judicial decisions [for the purpose of discovering defects and anachro-
33 nisms in the law] and recommending needed reforms.
34 2. To receive and consider suggested areas of study and proposed
35 changes in the law recommended by judges, justices, public officials,
36 lawyers, the American law institute, the [commissioners for the
37 promotion of uniformity of legislation in the United States] Uniform Law
38 Commission, [any] bar [association or] associations, other learned
39 bodies, or the general public. Suggestions for areas of study made by
40 statute, the governor, members of the legislature, court of appeals
41 judges, or the attorney general shall be given priority review for
42 consideration by the commission.
43 3. [To receive and consider suggestions from judges, justices, public
44 officials, lawyers and the public generally as to defects and anachro-
45 nisms in the law.
46 4.] To recommend, from time to time, such changes in the law as it
47 deems necessary to modify or eliminate antiquated [and] or inequitable
48 rules of law, and to bring the law of this state, civil and criminal,
49 into harmony with modern conditions.
50 [5.] 4. To report its proceedings annually to the legislature on or
51 before February first, and, if it deems advisable, to accompany its
52 report with proposed bills to carry out any of its recommendations.
53 § 4. The legislative law is amended by adding a new section 73 to read
54 as follows:
55 § 73. Funding of the commission. There is hereby established in the
56 joint custody of the comptroller and commissioner of taxation and
A. 6611 3
1 finance a fund to be designated as the law revision commission fund. The
2 commissioner shall deposit into the law revision commission fund all
3 moneys appropriated to the law revision commission. The moneys so
4 received and deposited in the law revision commission fund shall not be
5 commingled with moneys from the general fund and shall be used solely
6 for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article.
7 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
