Bill Text: NY A07067 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to contingency planning by state agencies for extended federal government shutdowns; requires the secretary to oversee development of shutdown contingency plans.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 22-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to ways and means [A07067 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A07067-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          7067
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                      April 4, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M. of A. BUCHWALD, ROZIC, CRUZ, RIVERA, GOTTFRIED, FALL,
          SAYEGH, COOK,  SCHMITT,  HYNDMAN,  STIRPE,  DICKENS,  MOSLEY,  JAFFEE,
          ASHBY,  ARROYO,  SANTABARBARA, BLAKE, GALEF, GRIFFIN, CRESPO -- Multi-
          Sponsored by -- M.  of A. EPSTEIN -- read once  and  referred  to  the
          Committee on Governmental Operations
        AN  ACT  to amend the executive law, in relation to contingency planning
          by state agencies for extended federal government shutdowns
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature finds that:
     2    a.  Shutdowns  of  operations  by  federal  agencies, once unthinkable
     3  events, are now occurring with increasing frequency and duration;
     4    b. Such shutdowns may cause  financial  hardships  in  this  state  to
     5  federal  employees,  whether  furloughed  or  required to report to work
     6  without pay, and to businesses  and  their  employees  involved  in  the
     7  provision  of  goods  and  services  to  federal  agencies, and may also
     8  adversely impact New York's economy, environment,  and  the  people  and
     9  institutions in this state who rely on programs and services provided by
    10  the federal government;
    11    c.  In  recent  federal  shutdowns  New  York state has properly taken
    12  several steps to mitigate adverse impacts, but has not undertaken  other
    13  remedial  actions that have been determined to be essential in similarly
    14  impacted states;
    15    d. The use of short-term continuing resolutions has made  the  federal
    16  budget  process  unpredictable,  yet  unlike other states New York state
    17  currently has no formal planning process for evaluation and coordination
    18  of potential mitigation measures; and
    19    e. Federal employees and contractors and the general  public  in  this
    20  state would benefit from a systematic effort to develop informed contin-
    21  gency  plans to ensure state agencies are prepared to initiate proactive
    22  measures to mitigate the impacts of an extended federal shutdown.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09834-01-9
        A. 7067                             2
     1    Therefore the legislature intends by this act to provide for a  flexi-
     2  ble  and  effective  contingency planning effort to provide guidance and
     3  information to each appropriate state agency on the activities it should
     4  be prepared to undertake in the event of  any  future  extended  federal
     5  shutdown.
     6    § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 94-c to read
     7  as follows:
     8    §  94-c.  State agency contingency planning for extended federal shut-
     9  downs.  1. Definitions. As  used in this section,  the  following  terms
    10  shall have the following meanings:
    11    a.  "Federal  shutdown" means a lapse in funding for one or more oper-
    12  ations of the federal government due to the failure of the executive and
    13  congress to appropriate funding;
    14    b. "Extended federal shutdown" means a federal shutdown that continues
    15  for a period of two weeks or more;
    16    c. "Federal shutdown contingency plan" means a document setting  forth
    17  the  measures  that  a  state  agency  may  take to mitigate the adverse
    18  impacts of an extended federal shutdown on employees and contractors  of
    19  federal agencies and businesses or members of the public in this state;
    20    d. "Secretary" means the secretary of state;
    21    e.  "Agency"  means  any  state  board, bureau, committee, commission,
    22  council, department, public authority, public benefit corporation, divi-
    23  sion, office or any other governmental entity performing a  governmental
    24  or  proprietary function for the state of New York, except the judiciary
    25  or the state legislature or any unit of local government and  shall  not
    26  include offices of district attorneys.
    27    2.  Federal shutdown contingency planning process. a. The secretary of
    28  state shall oversee the  development  of  federal  shutdown  contingency
    29  plans  by  state  agencies. The secretary shall solicit information from
    30  each state agency that operates programs  that  may  be  impacted  by  a
    31  federal shutdown or that may undertake efforts to mitigate the impact of
    32  an  extended  shutdown  on employees and contractors of federal agencies
    33  and businesses or members of the public in this state. Such  information
    34  shall  be  submitted by the agency in such form and manner as the secre-
    35  tary shall prescribe.
    36    b. Each state agency shall respond to such solicitation  by  providing
    37  the  secretary  with  a  draft  federal shutdown contingency plan, which
    38  shall include information as appropriate on:
    39    (i) any programs or activities of the agency that may be impacted by a
    40  loss of ongoing federal funding;
    41    (ii) any programs or activities of the agency that may be impacted  by
    42  the  cessation or substantial curtailment of federal activities that are
    43  not identified as excepted or exempted activities  in  the  most  recent
    44  shutdown  contingency  plan filed by a federal agency with the office of
    45  management and budget;
    46    (iii) any programs identified in subparagraphs (i)  or  (ii)  of  this
    47  paragraph  that  could be impacted to the extent that the health, safety
    48  or economic well-being of the  people  of  this  state  or  the  natural
    49  resources of the state could be substantially impaired;
    50    (iv)  any  positions  at  the agency that are federally funded and the
    51  ability of the agency to pay such employees during the shutdown  subject
    52  to future reimbursement;
    53    (v)  any  actions  that  could  be taken by the agency to mitigate the
    54  impacts of an extended federal  shutdown,  including  any  actions  that
    55  could  be  taken  by the agency or by entities under the jurisdiction of
        A. 7067                             3
     1  the agency that  could  mitigate  any  financial  hardships  on  federal
     2  employees or by businesses impacted by the shutdown;
     3    (vi)  any  actions that will be necessary to resume orderly operations
     4  upon cessation of the federal shutdown; and
     5    (vii) any other information that the secretary or  the  agency  deter-
     6  mines is appropriate for inclusion in the plan.
     7    c.  After reviewing the information submitted by an agency, the secre-
     8  tary:
     9    (i) shall determine that the submission is complete or  shall  solicit
    10  additional  information  from the agency to permit such a determination;
    11  and
    12    (ii) upon receipt of a complete submission shall approve  an  agency's
    13  federal  shutdown  contingency  plan, or shall identify any deficiencies
    14  precluding such approval and direct the agency to submit a revised  plan
    15  that addresses such deficiencies.
    16    d. The secretary shall issue guidance to agencies on the federal shut-
    17  down contingency planning process.
    18    3. Before taking any action that may have a fiscal or budgetary impli-
    19  cation the secretary shall consult with the director of the budget.
    20    4.  Each agency shall utilize its federal shutdown contingency plan to
    21  enable a rapid and effective response to any extended federal  shutdown;
    22  provided,  however,  that  no  agency shall be required to undertake all
    23  actions or any specific action that has been identified in its plan.
    24    5. Each agency shall review its federal shutdown contingency plan  and
    25  submit updates to the secretary for approval as frequently as necessary,
    26  and upon request of the secretary shall conduct such a review and submit
    27  an  updated  plan or advise the secretary that no revision is necessary.
    28  Each agency shall maintain  a  copy  of  its  current  federal  shutdown
    29  contingency  plan  on  its  website,  and the secretary shall maintain a
    30  webpage on the department of state's website  with  information  on  the
    31  federal  shutdown  contingency planning process and a link to each agen-
    32  cy's current plan.
    33    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.