Governor Cuomo Should Sign Bill Allowing ABO
to Suspend Board Members of Local Public Authorities
If They Fail to File Disclosure Documents for Three Years
Bill is a Step in The Right Direction
Reinvent Albany urges Governor Cuomo to sign A.220 (Paulin)/S.1872 (Comrie), which passed the Legislature in April.
The bill allows the Authorities Budget Office (ABO) to suspend board members of local authorities who have not submitted the budget, annual and audit reports required by law more than three years after the original due date. Reinvent Albany prefers giving the ABO the authority to suspend board members if their organization fails to file disclosure documents for a year, but the bill is a step in the right direction.
Non-compliance with public authority disclosure requirements is rampant. The ABO this year announced that as of February, more than 20 percent of public authorities in the state had not met the deadline for submitting a required report. Under current law, boards may avoid filing the forms with impunity, as the ABO’s actions are limited to warning and censuring members or publishing reports about noncompliance.
This bill will foster greater compliance with basic transparency requirements that allow taxpayers a greater view into how local authorities use public resources.
We urge the Governor to sign the bill into law.