Provides that the continued existence of the charter commission and appointments to the commission is dependent on confirmation by the mayor who is in office on the first day of January of the following year; makes exception for certain mayors; provides for the repeal of certain provisions upon the expiration thereof.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10471
SPONSOR: Septimo TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the municipal home rule law, in relation to revision of
a city charter; and to provide for the repeal of certain provisions upon
the expiration thereof
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To add circumstantial requirements to amend a city charter.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill amends the Municipal Home Rule Law to require the Mayor of any
city to confirm the existence of and appointments to any charter
revision commission created within 60 days of the date of a municipal
general election.
JUSTIFICATION:
Under current state law, a mayor may unilaterally create a charter
revision commission (CRC) by filing a certificate of appointment with
the city clerk. However, there is nothing to prohibit an outgoing mayor
from convening a CRC at the end of their term, or even their last few
days in office, allowing an outgoing executive to initiate potentially
long-lasting constitutional changes to city governance over the
objection of a newly elected administration and without the consent of
the voters of a city.
This timing loophole has recently been exploited in New York City. On
his final day in office, outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams
convened a new CRC. This unprecedented action circumvented the will of
NYC voters who had recently selected Zohran Mamdani as their new mayor,
and allowed the new CRC to operate for up to nearly two full years, far
beyond the end of the former Mayor's term.
This bill would close this existing loophole by requiring that any CRC
initiated within 60 days of a municipal general election be affirmative-
ly confirmed by the Mayor within the first 60 days of the following
year. This would allow incoming mayors to nullify last-minute CRC's
convened by outgoing Mayors just before an election or in the lame duck
period. Without this reform, an outgoing mayor may use the transition
period to launch charter commissions that shape the future of municipal
governance without electoral accountability.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any charter
commission created pursuant to subdivision 4 of section 36 of the munic-
ipal home rule law for which a certificate of appointment was filed
after the general election at which a mayor was elected and prior to
January first in the year following such election.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10471
IN ASSEMBLY
March 6, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEPTIMO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Cities
AN ACT to amend the municipal home rule law, in relation to revision of
a city charter; and to provide for the repeal of certain provisions
upon the expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known as the "Election-Related Require-
2 ments for Initiating Charter Commissions (ERIC) Act".
3 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 36 of the municipal home rule law, as
4 amended by chapter 592 of the laws of 1964, is amended to read as
5 follows:
6 4. (a) A charter commission to draft a new or revised city charter may
7 also be created by the mayor of any city. Such commission shall consist
8 of not less than nine nor more than fifteen members, all of whom shall
9 be residents of the city. Original appointments to such a commission
10 shall be made by the mayor by a certificate of appointment which shall
11 specify the number of, and names of, the members to constitute the
12 commission, which certificate shall be filed forthwith with the city
13 clerk. The [chairman, vice-chairman] chair, vice-chair and secretary
14 shall be appointed by the mayor from among the members of the commis-
15 sion. Any vacancy in the membership of such a commission or of its offi-
16 cers shall be filled by the mayor.
17 (b) When a certificate of appointment is filed within sixty days
18 before or after the date of a general election at which a mayor is
19 elected, but before January first in the year following such election,
20 the continued existence of the charter commission and appointments to
21 the commission shall be dependent on confirmation by the mayor in office
22 on the first day of January of the following year within sixty days of
23 the start of the calendar year. Failure to obtain such confirmation
24 within the sixty-day period shall cause the charter commission to expire
25 and nullify all appointments to such commission as well as any proposed
26 revisions to the city charter or any new proposed charter.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14446-04-6
A. 10471 2
1 (c) In the event that a mayor first assumes office between November
2 fourth, two thousand twenty-five and the effective date of paragraph (b)
3 of this subdivision, the continued existence of the charter commission
4 and appointments to the commission as provided in paragraph (b) of this
5 subdivision shall be dependent on confirmation by the mayor within sixty
6 days of the effective date of paragraph (b) of this subdivision. Failure
7 to obtain such confirmation within the sixty-day period shall cause the
8 charter commission to expire and nullify all appointments to such
9 commission as well as any proposed revisions to the city charter or any
10 new proposed charter.
11 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
12 have been in effect on and after November 4, 2025, and shall apply to
13 any charter commission created for which a certificate of appointment
14 was filed after November 4, 2025; provided, however, that paragraph (c)
15 of subdivision 4 of section 36 of the municipal home rule law as added
16 by section two of this act shall expire and be deemed repealed one year
17 after the effective date of this act.
