Hochul’s Reasons for Vetoing Comptroller’s Contract Transparency Bill Are Ridiculous

For the second year in a row, the Governor has vetoed a major contract transparency bill (S9171 (Cooney) / A10281 (Solages)), and for the second year in a row, the Governor’s rationale for the veto is completely ridiculous.

The Governor vetoed the new bill despite the Comptroller and legislative sponsors making a significant modification to reduce the potential burden on agencies by requiring only summaries of emergency contracts – which during COVID and the migrant crisis cost billions of dollars.

The Governor’s claim that the bill would result in the disclosure of “trade secrets” is absurd. The bill requires agencies to write a “brief description” of an emergency contract including “the name of the vendor” and “what is being provided by the contract.” The Governor also makes the fatuous argument that requiring agencies to publish basic information about emergency contracts 30 days after the contract is executed reduces the state’s ability to “move quickly in the best interest of the public.” 

The Comptroller’s emergency contract reporting bill was supported by good government and budget watchdog groups including Reinvent Albany, the Citizens Budget Commission, Citizens Union, Common Cause NY, the League of Women Voters of New York State, and the New York Public Interest Research Group.

We thank the sponsors, Senator Cooney and Assemblymember Solages, for their continued advocacy for this legislation. This bill was passed unanimously by the Senate and Assembly. We urge the Senate and Assembly to override the Governor’s veto.