In Final Days, Legislature Must Pass Key Transparency, Accountability Bills
New York Needs to Stand Up for Democracy, Rule of Law, and Public Accountability
It is time for the Democratic Party majority in the New York Senate and Assembly to show they want a healthy democracy that serves as a beacon to everyone who believes government can work and should work for the people. Democratic state legislators cannot control what is done in D.C., but they can act to open up New York government and bolster the rights and liberties of New Yorkers in big ways and small.
We urge the Senate to pass the following bills before they go home on Thursday. All have passed the Assembly:
- S5000 (Hoylman-Sigal) / A1410 (Rosenthal) – Limits Commercial FOIL exemption. On third reading.
- S67 (Skoufis) / A6613 (McDonald) – Clarifies FOIL regarding redactions. On third reading.
- S452 (Hoylman-Sigal) / A2321 (McDonald) – Requires agencies to submit FOIL logs to the Committee on Open Government. In Senate Investigations and GovOps.
We urge the Assembly to pass the following bills before they go home next week. All have passed the Senate:
- S374 (Gianaris) / A7456 (McDonald) – Discloses lobbying activities for confirmation or nomination of persons to state office. In Assembly Rules.
- S3340 (Gianaris) / A3246 (Dinowitz) – Ends NY’s Opportunity Zone tax break. In Assembly Ways and Means.
- S5843 (Skoufis) / A2330 (McDonald) – Requires electronic filing of all lobbying disclosures. In Assembly GovOps.
- S462-A (Hoylman-Sigal) / A1518-A (Weprin) – Authorizes the use of cameras in New York’s trial and appellate courts. In Assembly Judiciary.
We urge both the Senate and Assembly to pass the following bills:
- S590-A (Krueger) / A3665-A (Simone) – Creates balanced playing field between mayoral and city council charter commissions everywhere in New York State. In Senate Cities 1 (NYC), on third reading in Assembly.
- S2520-B (Skoufis) / A3425-A (Raga) – Reduces time public must wait to appeal FOIL delays and denials. On third reading in Senate, in Assembly GovOps.
- S4857-C (Skoufis) / A463-B (Paulin) – Requires publishing of financial disclosure statements of candidates for office. On third reading in the Senate, in Assembly GovOps.