A00255 Summary:
BILL NO | A00255 |
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SAME AS | SAME AS S01716 |
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SPONSOR | Magnarelli |
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COSPNSR | Thiele, Simon, Buttenschon, Cook, Lavine, Gunther, Jacobson, Stirpe, Steck, Paulin, Glick, Reyes |
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MLTSPNSR | |
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Rpld §856 sub 4, amd §856, Gen Muni L | |
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Relates to preventing certain elected officials from being a member of an agency. |
A00255 Memo:
Go to topNEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)   BILL NUMBER: A255 SPONSOR: Magnarelli
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to preventing certain elected officials from being a member of an agency; and to repeal subdivision 4 of section 856 of such law relating thereto   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: The bill would prohibit any elected official serving at the county, town, city, or village level, from serving as member of the board of any industrial development agency (IDA) located within the county. This reform would eliminate major potential conflicts of interest in the current law.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1: Repeals the existing subdivision 4 of section 856 of the general municipal law which deals with elected officials serving as members of IDA boards and replaces it with a new subdivision 4 that prohibits any elected official serving at the county, town, city, or village level from serving as member of the board of any industrial development agency (IDA) located within the county. Any IDA board member who would now be ineligible to serve may serve until the expiration of his or her term as a member of the IDA, at which time new board members must be selected using the existing process established by each IDA. The enabling legislation for certain county and municipal IDAs specifically requires certain elected positions to be represented on the IDA's board. This bill would not apply to any elected officials required by the terms of the enabling legislation for a particular IDA to serve on the board of that IDA. Section 2: Effective Date.   JUSTIFICATION: Each year, local industrial development agencies grant millions of dollars of financial assistance in the form of tax incentives, payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements, and others, to projects seeking assistance. The members of IDA boards make decisions on which projects will receive assistance and how much assistance to offer. Allowing elected officials to serve as IDA board members opens obvious opportu- nities for corruption and conflicts of interest. For instance, a company (or its officers) seeking financial assistance from a county or munici- pal IDA could contribute to the campaign of an elected official who serves on the IDA board and that elected official could then vote to confer millions of dollars in taxpayer incentives on the company. Despite this clear potential for corruption, elected officials currently serve on IDA boards all around the state, making this bill a vitally needed anti-corruption measure.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2021-2022: A.1308-A; 2019-2020: A.7235   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
A00255 Text:
Go to top STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 255 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 4, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. MAGNARELLI, THIELE, SIMON, BUTTENSCHON, COOK, LAVINE, GUNTHER, JACOBSON, STIRPE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to preventing certain elected officials from being a member of an agency; and to repeal subdivision 4 of section 856 of such law relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 856 of the general municipal law 2 is REPEALED and a new subdivision 4 is added to read as follows: 3 4. No member of an agency shall be an elected official of the munici- 4 pality nor shall any member of an agency be an elected official of any 5 county, city, town, or village within the county in which the agency is 6 located. Where an individual who currently serves as a member of an 7 agency would be ineligible to serve until his or her term as a member of 8 an agency has expired, the governing body of the municipality or 9 appointing authority of the agency shall appoint new members of the 10 agency as provided in subdivision two of this section where an individ- 11 ual was no longer able to serve in such a capacity. This subdivision 12 shall not apply to any elected officials required to serve on an indus- 13 trial development agency under title two of this article. This subdivi- 14 sion shall not apply to any industrial development agency that has a 15 board entirely composed of elected officials from the municipality that 16 chartered such industrial development agency. 17 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00272-01-3