Bill Text: NY S00106 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Enacts the "truth in spending act"; creates disclosure requirements prior to the allocation of certain funds.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO FINANCE [S00106 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00106-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           106

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. TEDISCO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance

        AN ACT to amend the state finance  law,  in  relation  to  enacting  the
          "truth in spending act"

          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 and may be cited as the  "truth  in
     2  spending act".
     3    §  2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 53-e to
     4  read as follows:
     5    § 53-e. Appropriations; full disclosure. 1. Prior to the  disbursement
     6  of any budgetary allocation made pursuant to this article, section nine-
     7  ty-nine-d  of this chapter as added by chapter four hundred seventy-four
     8  of the laws of nineteen  hundred  ninety-six,  or  subdivision  five  of
     9  section  twenty-four  of  this chapter at the request of the governor or
    10  member of the legislature, the governor and the legislature shall:
    11    (a) ensure that funds shall include a brief description of the project
    12  to be funded;
    13    (b) require the governor or member of the legislature requesting  such
    14  appropriation  to sign a conflict of interest form, as prescribed by the
    15  attorney general, which shall be submitted to the  attorney  general  to
    16  ensure  that  no  conflict  of  interest exists. Such form shall require
    17  disclosure of all political donations  received  within  the  past  five
    18  years by such official from the intended recipient of appropriated fund-
    19  ing  if  the  cumulative  amount of such donations meets or exceeds four
    20  thousand dollars and were made within the past five years.    Such  form
    21  shall  be  signed  by  the  governor  or member of the legislature under
    22  penalty of perjury and shall be filed, in the case of a  member  of  the
    23  assembly,  the  clerk of the assembly and in the case of a member of the
    24  senate, the sergeant at arms of the senate.   Such  requested  appropri-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00281-01-3

        S. 106                              2

     1  ation shall not be provided if a conflict of interest exists between the
     2  governor  or  a  member of the legislature designating the appropriation
     3  and the potential recipient. Such appropriations shall not  be  provided
     4  to  organizations  that  employ  or otherwise compensate the governor or
     5  member of the legislature, governor's family or legislator's family, any
     6  person sharing the primary residence of the governor or  member  of  the
     7  legislature or the governor's or a member of the legislature's staff for
     8  services or labor rendered. Furthermore such appropriations shall not be
     9  designated if the governor or member of the legislature, a member of the
    10  governor's  or member of the legislator's family, any person sharing the
    11  primary residence of the governor or member  of  the  legislature  or  a
    12  member  of  the  governor's  or  member  of  the  legislature's staff is
    13  involved with the operations of the  organization  which  would  receive
    14  such  appropriation  in  a  decision-making  capacity including, but not
    15  limited to, working on an unpaid, volunteer basis or as a member of  the
    16  directing board of an organization; and
    17    (c) ensure that funds be used for a public purpose.
    18    2.  At least seventy-two hours prior to approval by the legislature of
    19  the state budget, or a legislative bill containing an  appropriation  as
    20  described in subdivision five of section twenty-four of this chapter the
    21  legislature must make public with respect to each allocation, the member
    22  of the senate, the member of the assembly or the governor sponsoring the
    23  allocation,  the dollar amount to be appropriated, the senate and assem-
    24  bly district in which the entity receiving such funding  is  principally
    25  located,  the  name  of  the local project, organization or other entity
    26  receiving such allocation and a description of the project to be  funded
    27  or  purpose  for  making such allocation.   Such publication shall, at a
    28  minimum, be made on the website of each house  of  the  legislature  and
    29  shall  be  accessible via a link on the home page of such website.  Such
    30  webpage shall be in a machine readable  format  and  shall  include  all
    31  memoranda of understanding, plans, resolutions, contracts, and any other
    32  agreements  related  to  the distribution of funds to recipients.  Addi-
    33  tionally, the comptroller shall establish and maintain such  information
    34  on a separate website.
    35    3. All allocation recipients shall provide certification of proper use
    36  of  funds  received.  For  allocations totaling less than fifty thousand
    37  dollars, a duly authorized representative of the allocation  recipient's
    38  organization  shall  attest  under penalty of perjury that the recipient
    39  organization actually spent  such  funds  in  the  manner  and  for  the
    40  purposes  designated  in  any  application  for an allocation. For allo-
    41  cations totaling more than fifty thousand  dollars,  a  duly  authorized
    42  representative  of the recipient organization shall attest under penalty
    43  of perjury that the recipient organization actually spent the  money  in
    44  the  manner  and for the purposes designated in its application for such
    45  allocation and shall file a final  report,  under  penalty  of  perjury,
    46  detailing  the expenditures. Such report shall be submitted by May thir-
    47  ty-first of the calendar year following the calendar year in  which  the
    48  allocation was made and shall follow the requirements established by the
    49  attorney  general.  No future allocation shall be approved for an organ-
    50  ization which has previously received an allocation until such documents
    51  have been signed and received by the office of the New York state attor-
    52  ney general.
    53    4. Prior to submitting an application for an allocation,  each  organ-
    54  ization  seeking an allocation shall meet pre-certification standards as
    55  established by the office of the New York state attorney general.  At  a
    56  minimum,  those  standards  shall  require that the organization seeking

        S. 106                              3

     1  pre-certification is  a  certified  tax-exempt  non-profit  organization
     2  under  section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code in New York state,
     3  a state agency, a municipality or their affiliated department, universi-
     4  ty,  college,  or school district capable of accepting potential funding
     5  and that such entity is not in bankruptcy or arrears on any state  obli-
     6  gations.  If an organization has received an allocation in the past, the
     7  organization shall also comply  with  the  requirements  of  subdivision
     8  three  of  this  section.  No application from any organization shall be
     9  considered by a legislator until the office of the New York state attor-
    10  ney general has certified such organization based upon the criteria  set
    11  forth  in  this subdivision and upon any additional regulatory standards
    12  established by the attorney general.
    13    5. Any allocation by the legislature and the  governor  shall  be  set
    14  forth  separately  and  apart  from  every other allocation in the state
    15  budget and identify each legislator's or the governor's request.
    16    6. Any violation of the provisions of this section shall  be  referred
    17  to   the   legislative   ethics  commission  or  its  successor  entity.
    18  Complaints regarding the failure to use an allocation to comply with the
    19  provisions of this chapter shall be submitted  to  (a)  the  legislative
    20  ethics commission with regard to an allocation made at the discretion of
    21  a  legislator,  or (b) the joint commission on public ethics with regard
    22  to an allocation made at the discretion of the governor. Each  complaint
    23  shall be investigated in accordance with the rules and procedures of the
    24  commission receiving the complaint.
    25    §  3.  Subdivisions 4 and 5 of section 24 of the state finance law, as
    26  added by chapter 1 of the laws of 2007, are amended to read as follows:
    27    4. Any appropriation added to such budget bills, pursuant  to  section
    28  four  of  article seven of the constitution, shall only contain itemized
    29  appropriations which shall not be in the  form  of  lump  sum  appropri-
    30  ations[,]  and  shall designate for each appropriation a grantee of such
    31  appropriation, and the  legislator  requesting  such  appropriation  and
    32  [provided  further  that] for all non-federal state operations appropri-
    33  ations, such bill or bills shall only  contain  itemized  appropriations
    34  and  shall be made, where practicable, by agency, and within each agency
    35  by program and within each program at the following level of detail  and
    36  in the following order:
    37    (a)  by  fund  type,  which  at  a minimum shall include general fund,
    38  special revenue-other funds, capital projects  funds  and  debt  service
    39  funds;
    40    (b) for personal service appropriations, separate appropriations shall
    41  be  made  for  regular personal service, temporary personal service, and
    42  holiday and overtime pay;
    43    (c) for nonpersonal service  appropriations,  separate  appropriations
    44  shall  be made for supplies and materials, travel, contractual services,
    45  equipment and fringe benefits, as appropriate.
    46    5. Any appropriation added pursuant to section four of  article  seven
    47  of  the  constitution  without  designating a grantee shall be allocated
    48  only pursuant to a plan setting forth an itemized list of grantees  with
    49  the  amount  to  be  received by each, or the methodology for allocating
    50  such appropriation. Such plan shall be subject to the  approval  of  the
    51  chair  of  the  senate finance committee, the chair of the assembly ways
    52  and means committee, and the director  of  the  budget,  and  thereafter
    53  shall  be included in a [concurrent resolution] legislative bill calling
    54  for the expenditure of such monies, which resolution must be approved by
    55  a majority vote of all members elected to each house upon  a  roll  call
    56  vote.   The provisions of this section shall not preclude members of the

        S. 106                              4

     1  legislature from collaborating with each other in the selection of allo-
     2  cations and packaging their individual allocations together  with  other
     3  members' allocations for specified regional or joint projects.
     4    §  4. Section 40 of the state finance law is amended by adding two new
     5  subdivisions 5 and 6 to read as follows:
     6    5. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the  contrary,
     7  the  provisions of subdivision three of this section shall not be super-
     8  seded except upon approval by a two-thirds vote of the senate and assem-
     9  bly.
    10    6. A resolution providing for the disbursement of  funds  pursuant  to
    11  any  provision  of law shall not be approved less than seventy-two hours
    12  subsequent to the introduction of such resolution.
    13    § 5. Subdivision 2 of section 24 of the state finance law  is  amended
    14  by adding a new paragraph (c) to read as follows:
    15    (c)  On  or  after January first, two thousand twenty-four, any budget
    16  bill submitted by the governor shall  only  contain  itemized  appropri-
    17  ations.
    18    § 6. This act does not preclude either house of the legislature or the
    19  governor  from  adopting more stringent standards through its own guide-
    20  lines or through the application process.
    21    § 7. Allocations made pursuant to article 4 or section 99-d, known  as
    22  the  community projects fund, of the state finance law shall continue to
    23  be subject to review by the respective assembly and  senate  fiscal  and
    24  counsel  staffs, division of the budget, the administering state agency,
    25  the office of the state comptroller, and  the  office  of  the  attorney
    26  general.  Nothing  in  this  act  shall limit the authority of the state
    27  comptroller and the attorney general to review allocation recipients  or
    28  discretionary grants.
    29    § 8. This act shall take effect immediately.
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