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A01228 Summary:

BILL NOA01228A
 
SAME ASSAME AS S01150-A
 
SPONSORPaulin
 
COSPNSRGallagher, Seawright, Jackson, Galef, Otis, Santabarbara
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §103, Pub Off L
 
Requires certain documents to be made available for open meetings.
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A01228 Actions:

BILL NOA01228A
 
01/07/2021referred to governmental operations
04/19/2021amend and recommit to governmental operations
04/19/2021print number 1228a
04/27/2021reported
04/29/2021advanced to third reading cal.242
05/04/2021passed assembly
05/04/2021delivered to senate
05/04/2021REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
06/08/2021SUBSTITUTED FOR S1150A
06/08/20213RD READING CAL.1139
06/08/2021PASSED SENATE
06/08/2021RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
10/13/2021delivered to governor
10/19/2021signed chap.481
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A01228 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A1228A
 
SPONSOR: Paulin
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to making certain documents available for open meetings   PURPOSE: To make documents to be discussed at open meetings available to the public.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends the public officers law to require documents to be discussed at open meetings be made available upon request or posted on the public body's website at least 24 hours prior to such open meeting. Section 2 provides the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: The Open Meetings Law is intended to empower the public through the availability and accessibility of meetings of public bodies. In an effort to provide the public with useful information, section 103 of the law also requires agencies to post and make available any documents scheduled to be discussed prior to-such meetings. However, section 103 of the Open Meetings Law requires agencies to make any documents to be discussed at an upcoming open meeting available to the public, "to the extent practicable." This vague phrase has created loopholes and a way for agencies to bypass this requirement. In an anal- ysis of 41 local governments conducted by the New York Coalition for Open Government, 15 percent do not post meeting documents. COVID-19 has made it apparent that there is technology readily available for agencies to use in an effort to be more transparent. Meetings are only taking place virtually and individuals are at an immense disadvan- tage because there is no in-person opportunity to request a hard copy of any documents at the meeting. Therefore, it is even more important that agencies utilize the technology available to post documents online where the public can effectively access them. This bill would add language to section 103 of the public officers law to require open meeting documents be available upon request or posted to the public body's website at least 24 hours prior to the open meeting at which such documents will be discussed. This bill would equip the public with more information so they can understand the actions and decisions of public bodies and hold authorities accountable.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: A.10983-A, 2020, referred to governmental operations   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
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A01228 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         1228--A
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     January 7, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M. of A. PAULIN, GALLAGHER, SEAWRIGHT, JACKSON, GALEF --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations  --
          committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
          recommitted to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to  making  certain
          documents available for open meetings
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Subdivision (e) of section 103 of the public officers  law,
     2  as  added  by  chapter  603  of  the laws of 2011, is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    (e) Agency records available to the public pursuant to article six  of
     5  this chapter, as well as any proposed resolution, law, rule, regulation,
     6  policy  or any amendment thereto, that is scheduled to be the subject of
     7  discussion by a public body during an open meeting shall be made  avail-
     8  able, upon request therefor, to the extent practicable [as determined by
     9  the  agency  or the department,] at least twenty-four hours prior to [or
    10  at] the meeting during which the records will be  discussed.  Copies  of
    11  such  records  may be made available for a reasonable fee, determined in
    12  the same manner as provided therefor in article six of this chapter.  If
    13  the  agency  in  which a public body functions maintains a regularly and
    14  routinely updated website and utilizes a high speed internet connection,
    15  such records shall be posted on the website to  the  extent  practicable
    16  [as  determined  by  the agency or the department,] at least twenty-four
    17  hours prior to the meeting. An agency may, but shall not be required to,
    18  expend additional moneys to implement the provisions  of  this  subdivi-
    19  sion.
    20    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
    21  have become a law.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02143-02-1
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