Bill Text: NY A09609 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides for increased independence of the office of state inspector general; requires annual reports to the legislature on the activities of the office.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-28 - referred to governmental operations [A09609 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A09609-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9609

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 28, 2022
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ZEBROWSKI  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Governmental Operations

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the  office  of  state
          inspector general

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 of section 52 of the executive law,
     2  as added by chapter 766 of the laws of 2005,  are  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    1.  There  is  hereby  established  the  office of the state inspector
     5  general in the executive department. The head of the office shall be the
     6  state inspector general who shall  be  appointed  by  the  governor  and
     7  confirmed by the state senate. The state inspector general shall have at
     8  least  five years of demonstrated experience or expertise in accounting,
     9  public administration, or audit investigations  as  a  certified  public
    10  accountant  or  a  certified internal auditor, and shall not have worked
    11  for any covered agency in the last five years.
    12    2. The state inspector general shall hold office [until the end of the
    13  term of the governor by whom he or she was appointed and  until  his  or
    14  her successor is appointed and has qualified] for six years.
    15    3.  The  state  inspector general shall report to the secretary to the
    16  governor and the legislature. It shall be the duty and responsibility of
    17  the state inspector general to keep the secretary to  the  governor  and
    18  the  legislature  fully  and  currently  informed  by  means  of reports
    19  required by section fifty-three of this article and otherwise,  concern-
    20  ing  corruption,  fraud,  criminal  activity,  conflicts  of interest or
    21  abuse, to recommend corrective action concerning such problems,  abuses,
    22  and  deficiencies,  and  to  report on the progress made in implementing
    23  such corrective action.
    24    § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 53 of the executive  law,  as  added  by
    25  chapter 766 of the laws of 2005, is amended, subdivisions 5, 6 and 7 are
    26  renumbered subdivisions 6, 7 and 8, and two new subdivisions 5 and 9 are
    27  added to read as follows:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13751-01-1
        A. 9609                             2

     1    4.  prepare  and  release  to  the  legislature and the public written
     2  reports of such investigations, as appropriate and to the extent permit-
     3  ted by law, subject to  redaction  to  protect  the  confidentiality  of
     4  witnesses.  The  release  of  all  or  portions  of  such reports may be
     5  deferred to protect the confidentiality of ongoing investigations;
     6    5.  report  immediately  to the secretary of the governor whenever the
     7  state  inspector  general  becomes  aware  of  particularly  serious  or
     8  flagrant  cases  of  corruption,  fraud, criminal activity, conflicts of
     9  interest or abuse.  The secretary to the  governor  shall  transmit  any
    10  such  report  to  the  appropriate  committees of the legislature within
    11  seven calendar days, together with a report  by  the  secretary  to  the
    12  governor containing any comments such head deems appropriate;
    13    9. (a) provide an annual report no later than December thirty-first to
    14  the  legislature  summarizing the activities of the office over the last
    15  year, including:
    16    (i) a description of significant cases of corruption, fraud,  criminal
    17  activity,  conflicts  of  interest  or  abuse  within  covered  agencies
    18  disclosed by such activities during the reporting period;
    19    (ii) a description of the recommendations for corrective  action  made
    20  by  the  office  during the reporting period with respect to significant
    21  cases of corruption, fraud, criminal activity, conflicts of interest  or
    22  abuse identified pursuant to this paragraph;
    23    (iii)  an  identification of each significant recommendation described
    24  in previous annual reports on  which  corrective  action  has  not  been
    25  completed;
    26    (iv)  a summary of matters referred to prosecutive authorities and the
    27  prosecutions and convictions which have resulted;
    28    (v) a report on each investigation conducted by the office involving a
    29  senior government employee where allegations of misconduct were substan-
    30  tiated, including the name of the senior government official, as defined
    31  by the department or agency, if already made public by the office, and a
    32  detailed description of:
    33    (1) the facts and circumstances of the investigation; and
    34    (2) the status and disposition of the matter, including:
    35    (A) if the matter was referred to the local, state, or federal  prose-
    36  cutors, the date of the referral; and
    37    (B) if the agency declined the referral, the date of the declination;
    38    (vi)  a  detailed description of any instance of whistleblower retali-
    39  ation, including information about the official found to have engaged in
    40  retaliation; and what, if any, consequences the  establishment  actually
    41  imposed to hold the official accountable;
    42    (vii)  a  detailed  description  of any attempt by covered agencies to
    43  interfere with the independence of the office, including incidents where
    44  the agency has resisted or  objected  to  oversight  activities  of  the
    45  office  or  restricted  or  significantly delayed access to information,
    46  including the justification of the agency for such action;
    47    (b) these reports must be made available to the public with  necessary
    48  redactions within thirty days of their delivery to the legislature.
    49    §  3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
    50  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.