A00081 Summary:
BILL NO | A00081 |
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SAME AS | No Same As |
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SPONSOR | Sayegh |
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COSPNSR | Paulin, Thiele, DeStefano, Mikulin, Palmesano, Burdick |
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MLTSPNSR | |
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Add §165-b, St Fin L | |
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Provides that a state agency shall require a person that submits a bid or offer in response to a notice of procurement, or that proposes to renew an existing procurement contract with a state agency or proposes to assume the responsibility of a contractor pursuant to a procurement contract with a state agency or otherwise proposes to enter into a contract with a state agency with respect to a contract for commodities, services, construction, or contracts entered pursuant to section eight of the public buildings law or section thirty-eight of the highway law, to certify, at the time the bid is submitted or the contract is renewed or assigned, that the person or the assignee is not identified on a list that such person is doing business with or in the Russian federation and shall not be deemed a responsive bidder or offeror. |
A00081 Memo:
Go to topNEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)   BILL NUMBER: A81 SPONSOR: Sayegh
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to enacting the "stop Russian aggression act"   PURPOSE: To react to the Russian Federation's illegal invasion of Ukraine by prohibiting the state from contracting with any company doing business with or in Russia, as well as to direct the state comptroller to divest common retirement funds from any and all companies doing business with or in Russia.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 provides that this act shall be known as the "Stop Russian Aggression Act." Section 2 provides that the commissioner shall create a list of persons, companies, and other entities who are doing business with or in the Russian Federation and therefore, cannot be deemed to be a responsive bidder or offeror to state contract solicitations. The State Comptroller will be tasked to create a list of persons, companies, and other enti- ties who are doing business with or in the Russian Federation in which the Common Retirement Fund has direct investments. Beginning one year after the effective date, subject to a determination of prudence, and in accordance with sound investment criteria and consistent with the office's fiduciary obligations, the Comptroller shall divest the Common Retirement Fund from direct investments in any company on the exclusion list, and cease new direct investments with such companies. Section 3 sets the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: The Russian Federation's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine demands the strongest possible response. The world must stand united against the latest murderous European dictator who seeks to impose his corrupt ideology on neighboring countries. Currently, New York State does not invest in or support companies that do business in North Korea or Iran, and Vladimir Putin's reckless actions have now put Russia in the company of these rogue nations. The Stop Russian Aggression Act will block the awarding of New York State contracts to any company conducting business with or in Russia, and will instruct the New York State Comptroller to begin the process of divest- ing the Common Retirement Fund from any investment in companies that do business with or in Russia. New York's economy is the 10th largest in the world, and we should use our economic leverage to support the effort to punish Putin and stop Russian aggression. This legislation goes beyond targeting entities owned or controlled by the Russian Government and encompasses a much wider range of companies, affecting any entity with business ties to the Russian Federation, thus having a much broader impact on the Russian economy. The goal of this bill is to treat Russia the same way Iran and North Korea are treated, as international pariah states.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2021-22: A9501-Referred to Governmental Operations   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
A00081 Text:
Go to top STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 81 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 4, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SAYEGH, PAULIN, THIELE, DeSTEFANO, MIKULIN, PALMESANO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to enacting the "stop Russian aggression act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "stop Russian aggression act". 3 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 165-b to 4 read as follows: 5 § 165-b. Purchasing restrictions; persons doing business with or in 6 the Russian federation. 1. As used in this section, the following terms 7 shall have the following meanings: 8 (a) "Person" means: 9 (i) A natural person, corporation, company, limited liability company, 10 business, business association, partnership, society, trust, or any 11 other nongovernmental entity, organization, or group. 12 (ii) Any successor, subunit, parent entity, or subsidiary of, or any 13 entity under common ownership or control with, any entity described in 14 subparagraph (i) of this paragraph. 15 (b) "Doing business with or in the Russian federation" means engaging 16 in any activity or transaction for the purpose of financial or pecuniary 17 gain or profit with the Russian federation or persons based in or with 18 locations in the Russian federation or in territories controlled by the 19 Russian federation. 20 2. (a) A person that is identified on a list created pursuant to para- 21 graph (b) of this subdivision as a person that is doing business with or 22 in the Russian federation as described in subdivision one of this EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01785-01-3A. 81 2 1 section, shall not be deemed a responsive bidder or offeror pursuant to 2 section one hundred sixty-three of this article. 3 (b) (i) Not later than one hundred twenty days after the effective 4 date of this section, the commissioner shall develop or contract to 5 develop, using credible information available to the public, including 6 but not limited to information provided by non-profit organizations, 7 research firms, international organizations and government entities, a 8 list of persons it determines is doing business with or in the Russian 9 federation as described in subdivision one of this section. If the 10 commissioner has contracted to develop the list, the list shall be 11 finally developed not later than one hundred twenty days after the 12 effective date of this section. Such list, when completed, shall be 13 posted on the website of the office of general services. A statement by 14 a person or representative of a person with apparent authority to make 15 such a statement, that it is doing business with or in the Russian 16 federation, shall be considered as evidence that a company is doing 17 business with or in the Russian federation. The commissioner may 18 exclude from the list persons who engage in activities or transactions 19 of nominal or negligible value. 20 (ii) The commissioner shall update the list every one hundred eighty 21 days. 22 (iii) Before finalizing an initial list pursuant to subparagraph (i) 23 of this paragraph or an updated list pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of 24 this paragraph, the commissioner shall do all of the following: 25 (1) Provide ninety days' written notice of the commissioner's intent 26 to include the person on the list. The notice shall inform the person 27 that inclusion on the list would make the person a non-responsive bidder 28 or offeror. The notice shall specify the business activities as 29 described in subdivision one of this section, and provide that such 30 person may apply to the commissioner, or to a supreme court, to be 31 removed from such list pursuant to the requirements of this paragraph, 32 if it ceases such activities; 33 (2) In the event a person included by the commissioner on the list to 34 be developed and published in accordance with this paragraph, demon- 35 strates to the commissioner or to a supreme court that such person is 36 not engaged in such business activities as described in subdivision one 37 of this section, or has ceased such business activities, the commission- 38 er shall remove such person from the list developed and published in 39 accordance with this paragraph; and 40 (3) The commissioner shall make a good faith effort to avoid including 41 a person on the list who is not doing business with or in the Russian 42 federation. 43 (c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision, a 44 state agency may permit a person doing business with or in the Russian 45 federation as described by subdivision one of this section to be deemed 46 a responsive bidder or offeror, on a case-by-case basis with a state 47 agency if: 48 (i) The business activities were made before the effective date of 49 this section, such activities have not been expanded or renewed after 50 the effective date of this section, and the person has adopted, publi- 51 cized, and is implementing a plan to cease such activities and to 52 refrain from engaging in any new business activities; or 53 (ii) The state agency makes a determination that the commodities or 54 services are necessary for the state agency to perform its functions and 55 that, absent such an exemption, the state agency would be unable toA. 81 3 1 obtain the commodities or services for which the contract is offered. 2 Such determination shall be entered into the procurement record. 3 3. (a) A state agency shall require a person that submits a bid or 4 offer in response to a notice of procurement, or that proposes to renew 5 an existing procurement contract with a state agency or proposes to 6 assume the responsibility of a contractor pursuant to a procurement 7 contract with a state agency or otherwise proposes to enter into a 8 contract with a state agency with respect to a contract for commodities, 9 services, construction, or contracts entered pursuant to section eight 10 of the public buildings law or section thirty-eight of the highway law, 11 to certify, at the time the bid is submitted or the contract is renewed 12 or assigned, that the person or the assignee is not identified on a list 13 created pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this section. A 14 state agency shall include certification information in the procurement 15 record. 16 (b) A person that submits a bid or offer in response to a notice of 17 procurement or that proposes to renew an existing procurement contract 18 with a state agency or proposes to assume the responsibility of a 19 contractor pursuant to a procurement contract with a state agency, or 20 otherwise proposes to enter into a contract with a state agency with 21 respect to a contract for commodities, services, construction, or 22 contracts entered pursuant to section eight of the public buildings law 23 or section thirty-eight of the highway law shall not utilize, on the 24 contract with the state agency, any subcontractor that is identified on 25 a list created pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this 26 section. 27 4. Upon receiving information that a person who has made the certif- 28 ication required by subdivision three of this section is in violation 29 thereof, the state agency shall review such information and offer the 30 person an opportunity to respond. If the person fails to demonstrate 31 that it has ceased its business activities which are in violation of 32 this act within ninety days after the determination of such violation, 33 then the state agency shall take such action as may be appropriate and 34 provided for by law, rule or contract, including, but not limited to, 35 imposing sanctions, seeking compliance, recovering damages or declaring 36 the contractor in default. 37 5. The commissioner shall report to the governor, the comptroller, the 38 temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly annu- 39 ally on or before October first, on the status of this section and any 40 rules or regulations adopted thereunder. 41 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.