Bill Text: NY S08624 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits public access to records of ethical or disciplinary proceedings regarding state agency commissioners, elected officials, members of the legislature and employees of certain not-for-profits which receive state funding.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-24 - REFERRED TO RULES [S08624 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S08624-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8624 IN SENATE June 24, 2020 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MARTINEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the public officers law, the legislative law, the execu- tive law and the election law, in relation to public access to records of certain disciplinary proceedings The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public officers law is amended by adding two new 2 sections 89-a and 89-b to read as follows: 3 § 89-a. Access to records of certain disciplinary proceedings. 4 Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the contra- 5 ry, each agency, or a local ethic board or committee, shall make avail- 6 able for public inspection and copying in accordance with the procedures 7 established pursuant to this article, any record created in furtherance 8 of an ethical or disciplinary proceeding regarding an elected public 9 official or a commissioner or head of such agency, including, but not 10 limited to: 11 1. the complaints, allegations, and charges against such individual; 12 2. the name of the individual complained of or charged; 13 3. the transcript of any disciplinary proceeding or hearing, including 14 any exhibits introduced at such proceeding or hearing; 15 4. the disposition of any disciplinary proceeding; 16 5. the final written opinion or memorandum supporting the disposition 17 and discipline imposed including the board, committee or agency's 18 complete factual findings and its analysis of the conduct and appropri- 19 ate discipline of the covered individual; and 20 6. any file created by the attorney general or inspector general 21 relating to an ethical or disciplinary proceeding regarding an elected 22 public official or commissioner or other head of a state agency. 23 § 89-b. Certain records relating to disciplinary proceedings involving 24 not-for-profit corporations. 1. Within sixty days after the effective 25 date of this section, any not-for-profit corporation which receives any 26 funding from the state of New York shall make available for public 27 inspection and copying any record created in furtherance of an ethical EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD16671-03-0S. 8624 2 1 or disciplinary proceeding of any chief executive officer, president or 2 other head of such not-for-profit corporation, including, but not limit- 3 ed to: 4 (a) the complaints, allegations, and charges against such individual; 5 (b) the name of the individual complained of; 6 (c) the transcript of any disciplinary hearing, including any exhibits 7 introduced at such hearing; 8 (d) the disposition of any disciplinary proceeding; and 9 (e) the final written opinion or memorandum supporting the disposition 10 and discipline imposed including the complete factual findings and anal- 11 ysis of the conduct and appropriate discipline of the individual. 12 2. The committee on open government shall promulgate policies and 13 procedures for the disclosure of records of disciplinary proceedings 14 under this section which shall be adopted by any not-for-profit corpo- 15 ration which receives state funding. A copy of such policies and proce- 16 dures shall be filed with the office of the state attorney general. 17 § 2. Subdivision 12 of section 80 of the legislative law, as amended 18 by section 9 of part A of chapter 399 of the laws of 2011, is amended to 19 read as follows: 20 12. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of article six of the public 21 officers law, the only records of the commission which shall be avail- 22 able for public inspection and copying are: 23 (1) the terms of any settlement or compromise of a complaint or refer- 24 ral or report which includes a fine, penalty or other remedy reached 25 after the commission has received a report from the joint commission on 26 public ethics pursuant to subdivision fourteen-a of section ninety-four 27 of the executive law; 28 (2) generic advisory opinions; 29 (3) all reports required by this section; [and] 30 (4) all reports received from the joint commission on public ethics 31 pursuant to subdivision fourteen-a of section ninety-four of the execu- 32 tive law and in conformance with paragraph (b) of subdivision [nine-b] 33 nine of this section; and 34 (5) any record created in furtherance of an ethical or disciplinary 35 proceeding, or investigation report regarding a member of the legisla- 36 ture including but not limited to: 37 (i) the complaints, allegations and charges against such individual; 38 (ii) the name of the individual complained of or charged; 39 (iii) the transcript of any disciplinary trial or hearing, including 40 any exhibits introduced at such trial or hearing; 41 (iv) the disposition of any disciplinary proceeding; and 42 (v) the final written opinion, memorandum or report supporting the 43 disposition and discipline imposed including the commission's complete 44 and factual findings and analysis of the conduct and appropriate disci- 45 pline of the covered individual. 46 b. Notwithstanding the provisions of article seven of the public offi- 47 cers law, no meeting or proceeding of the commission shall be open to 48 the public, except if expressly provided otherwise by this section or 49 the commission. 50 § 3. Subdivision 19 of section 94 of the executive law, as amended by 51 section 6 of part A of chapter 399 of the laws of 2011, is amended to 52 read as follows: 53 19. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of article six of the public 54 officers law, the only records of the commission which shall be avail- 55 able for public inspection and copying are:S. 8624 3 1 (1) the information set forth in an annual statement of financial 2 disclosure filed pursuant to section seventy-three-a of the public offi- 3 cers law except information deleted pursuant to paragraph (h) of subdi- 4 vision nine of this section; 5 (2) notices of delinquency sent under subdivision twelve of this 6 section; 7 (3) notices of civil assessments imposed under this section which 8 shall include a description of the nature of the alleged wrongdoing, the 9 procedural history of the complaint, the findings and determinations 10 made by the commission, and any sanction imposed; 11 (4) the terms of any settlement or compromise of a complaint or refer- 12 ral which includes a fine, penalty or other remedy for legislative 13 employees; 14 (5) those required to be held or maintained publicly available pursu- 15 ant to article one-A of the legislative law; [and] 16 (6) substantial basis investigation reports issued by the commission 17 pursuant to subdivision fourteen-a or fourteen-b of this section. With 18 respect to reports concerning [members of the legislature or] legisla- 19 tive employees [or candidates for member of the legislature,] the joint 20 commission shall not publicly disclose or otherwise disseminate such 21 reports except in conformance with the requirements of paragraph (b) of 22 subdivision nine of section eighty of the legislative law; and 23 (7) any record created in furtherance of an ethical or disciplinary 24 proceeding or investigation report regarding a member of the legisla- 25 ture, a statewide elected official, or a candidate for statewide elected 26 office and for the senate or assembly, including but not limited to: 27 (i) the complaints, allegations and charges against such individual; 28 (ii) the name of the individual complained of or charged; 29 (iii) the transcript of any disciplinary hearing, including any exhib- 30 its introduced at such hearing; 31 (iv) the disposition of any disciplinary proceeding; and 32 (v) the final written opinion, memorandum or report supporting the 33 disposition and discipline imposed including the commission's complete 34 and factual findings and analysis of the conduct and appropriate disci- 35 pline of the covered individual. 36 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of article seven of the public 37 officers law, no meeting or proceeding, including any such proceeding 38 contemplated under paragraph (h) or (i) of subdivision nine of this 39 section, of the commission shall be open to the public, except if 40 expressly provided otherwise by the commission or as is required by 41 article one-A of the legislative law. 42 (c) Pending any application for deletion or exemption to the commis- 43 sion, all information which is the subject or a part of the application 44 shall remain confidential. Upon an adverse determination by the commis- 45 sion, the reporting [individual] legislative employee may request, and 46 upon such request the commission shall provide, that any information 47 which is the subject or part of the application remain confidential for 48 a period of thirty days following notice of such determination. In the 49 event that the reporting individual resigns his office and holds no 50 other office subject to the jurisdiction of the commission, the informa- 51 tion shall not be made public and shall be expunged in its entirety. 52 § 4. Section 3-104 of the election law is amended by adding a new 53 subdivision 6-a to read as follows: 54 6-a. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the 55 contrary, the state board of elections shall make available for public 56 inspection and copying any record created in furtherance of a hearingS. 8624 4 1 or proceeding under this section regarding an elected official or 2 candidate for elected office including, but not limited to: 3 a. the complaints, allegations, and charges against the individual; 4 b. the name of the individual complained of or charged; 5 c. the transcript of any proceeding or hearing, including any exhibits 6 introduced at such proceeding or hearing; 7 d. the disposition of any disciplinary proceeding or hearing; 8 e. the final written opinion or memorandum supporting the disposition 9 and discipline imposed including the board's complete factual findings 10 and its analysis of the conduct and appropriate discipline of the indi- 11 vidual; and 12 f. any file created by the board relating to an ethical or disci- 13 plinary proceeding regarding an individual subject to this section. 14 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
