Archived: Legislative Session 2019–2020

  • Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs) Renewals Issued 2015 Through 2020Signed into law on August 24, 2020 as Chapter 157 of the Laws of 2020 – A.10492 Rules (Thiele) / S.8417 Krueger – Provides financial and budgetary flexibility to local governments as they continue to operate and provide critical services during the COVID-19 public health crisis and its aftermath, by: (1) extending the "rollover" period for bond anticipation notes issued in calendar years 2015 through 2021, inclusive; (2) authorizing local governments and school districts to spend or temporarily transfer moneys in reserve funds for COVID-19 pandemic-related expenses; and (3) permitting the repayment of inter-fund advances made for COVID-19 pandemic-related expenses by the end of the next succeeding fiscal year or later, rather than the end of the current fiscal year.
  • Comptroller Authority to Audit Local Development Corporations (LDCs)Signed into law on December 20, 2019 as Chapter 710 of the Laws of 2019 – A.7476 (Magnarelli) / S.5445 (Skoufis) – Relates to audits by the State Comptroller of certain organizations controlled by municipal corporations and certain other government entities.
  • Local Government Ethics – A.7477 (Theile) / S.5548 (Biaggi) – Strengthens the current conflict of interest and ethics laws covering local governments in a number of ways including, but not limited to, prohibiting municipal officers and employees from acting in relation to certain matters in which they or a relative have an interest and expanding the issues required to be addressed in local codes of ethics to include nepotism.
  • Ethical Standards for State Agency Contractors Act – A.7792 (Titus) / S.5449 (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.
  • Omnibus Procurement Amendments – A.7793 (Titus) / S.5624 (Krueger) – Relates to participation by state agencies in a system used by the comptroller to compile vendor responsibility information; defining information technology for procurement purposes; clarifying the use of best and final offers for invitations for bids and requests for proposals for goods, services and technology; clarifying the use of contracts let by another governmental agency; and clarifying the valuation of non-cash contracts by the state comptroller.
  • Audit Response TimeframeSigned into law on November 20, 2019 as Chapter 507 of the Laws of 2019 – A.7794 (Titus) / S.5448 (Skoufis) – Relates to the timeframe for the implementation of recommendations included within final reports for corrective action.
  • Direct Deposit for New State Employees – S.5447 (Gounardes) – Requires the payment of salaries by direct deposit for state employees hired after January 1, 2021.
  • Increase ABLE Account BalanceSigned into law on November 25, 2019 as Chapter 545 of Laws of 2019 – A.7473 (Gunther) / S.6238 (Carlucci) – Increases the maximum account balance for the New York Achieving A Better Life Experience (ABLE) Program to match the federally authorized level.
  • Justice Center Audits – S.5446 (Carlucci) – Authorizes certain reports relating to reportable incidents involving vulnerable persons to be made available to officers and employees of the state comptroller for the purposes of a duly authorized performance audit.
  • Pre-Audit - State Insurance Fund – A.8086 (Rodriguez / S.5789 (Ramos) – Relates to the pre-audit of expenditures from the state insurance fund by the state comptroller.
  • Natural Gas Damage Compensation Fund – A.7942 (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.7943 (Englebright) – To protect homeowners from the onerous costs related to the remediation of petroleum discharges on residential property.
  • Accidental Death Benefit ExtenderSigned into law on September 11, 2019 as Chapter 253 of the Laws of 2019 – A.7892 (Abbate) / S.6313 (Gounardes) – Extends the period of time to 5 years within which to file an application for an Accidental Death Benefit after the death of a member of the New York State and Local Retirement System or the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (collectively NYSLRS).
  • Abandoned Property – A.8314 (Weinstein) – To include unclaimed virtual currency within the scope of property covered under the abandoned property law, shorten the dormancy period for wages, and authorize the promulgation of regulations recognizing electronic communication as written consent.
  • Investment Standard for NYS College Choice and NY ABLE Programs – S.6464 (Stavisky) – To bring the NYS College Choice tuition savings program (NY 529) and the NY Achieving a Better Life Experience savings account program (NY ABLE) in line with investment standards of other states' programs throughout the country.

Archived: Legislative Session 2017–2018