Since taking office in 2007, Comptroller DiNapoli has proposed legislation to increase accountability and transparency of New York state and local government. These efforts have focused on reforming not only the investment practices of the Common Retirement Fund, the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System, the New York Police and Fire Retirement System, but also the State budget process, state procurement practices and school accountability. Comptroller DiNapoli is committed to strengthening New York’s laws to:
- Ensure accountability, transparency and appropriate spending of taxpayer dollars,
- Stop fraud and abuse,
- Improve the effectiveness of government programs, and
- Protect the interests of New York’s citizens.
Legislative Session 2021 –2022
Proposed Legislation:
- Local Government Ethics – A.8505 (Thiele) - Relates to conflicts of interest of municipal officers and employees, codes of ethics and boards of ethics; permits local codes of ethics to prohibit activities expressly permitted by article 18 of the General Municipal Law.
- Public Authority Procurement – A.8504 (Paulin) – Requires public authorities to comply with certain provisions of the State Finance Law and the Public Buildings Law relating to procurements.
- Ordinary Death Benefit – Signed into law on December 16, 2022 as Chapter 720 of the laws of 2022 – A.7730/S.6619-A (Abbate/Gounardes) – Increases the age at which the ordinary death benefit commences to be reduced while a member of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) and the New York State Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) is in service to the full retirement age.
- Abandoned Property – Signed into law on November 22, 2022 as Chapter 640 of the Laws of 2022 – A.7742-A/S.9360 (Lavine/Thomas) – Provides coverage for virtual currency, authorizes the promulgation of regulations related to electronic communications, and recognizes the death of an owner as a trigger for dormancy.
- Data Breach – Signed into law on December 22, 2021 as Chapter 796 of the Laws of 2021 – A.7612/S.7019 (Otis/Krueger) – Requires the Office of Information Technology Services to notify, within 24 hours following the discovery of a data breach or receiving notice of a data breach or network security breach, the chief information officer or, where appropriate, the chief information security officer of a state entity with which the office shares data of such breach.
- ABLE Residency – Signed into law on July 26, 2022 as Chapter 478 of the Laws of 2022 - A.7652/S.9335 (Gunther/Brouk) – Eliminates the New York State residency requirement for designated beneficiaries in the New York ABLE program.
- Investment Standards – Signed into law on July 21, 2022 as Chapter 414 of the laws of 2022 – A.9281/S.9045 (Glick/Mannion) – Relates to investment standards for investments of the New York State college choice tuition savings program and the New York achieving a better life experience (ABLE) savings account program.
- Direct Deposit for New State Employees – Signed into law on July 22, 2022 as Chapter 442 of the Laws of 2022 – A.7436-A/S.6617-A (Abbate/Gounardes) – Requires the payment of salaries by direct deposit for state employees hired after January 1, 2023.
- Pre-Audit - State Insurance Fund – Vetoed on December 29, 2021 - Veto Memo 89 – A.7286/S.7177 (Rodriguez/Krueger) – Relates to the pre-audit of expenditures from the state insurance fund by the state comptroller.
- Natural Gas Damage Compensation Fund – A.7282 (Englebright) – Establishes the natural gas production contamination response and compensation program; and creates the New York natural gas production contamination damage recovery and remediation fund
- Oil Spill – A.7281 (Englebright) – To protect homeowners from the onerous costs related to the remediation of petroleum discharges on residential property.
- Omnibus Procurement Amendments – A.7180/S.6626 (Zebrowski/Krueger) – Relates to participation by state agencies in a system used by the comptroller to compile vendor responsibility information; authorizing the commissioner of the office of general services and state agencies to develop alternative procurement methods not otherwise authorized by law under certain circumstances; authorizing competitive negotiation concluding with a best and final offer; clarifying the use of best and final offers for invitations for bids and requests for proposals for goods, services and technology; clarifying the valuation of non-cash contracts by the state comptroller; and conforming the definition of restricted period.
- Ethical Standards for State Agency Contractors Act – A.7020/S.6616 (Zebrowski/Skoufis) – Establishes ethical standards for certain state agency contractors performing inherently governmental and mission-critical functions or rendering a service or services pursuant to an information-risk contract.
- Investment of Retirement Funds – S.9051 (Jackson) – Permits investment of retirement funds in mortgages guaranteed by New York state homes and community renewal.
- Constitutional Amendment – A.9958/S.8931 (Conrad/Gaughran) – Relates to excluding certain indebtedness for the construction of sewage facilities in determining current local debt limitation.