S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
4844
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
April 27, 2009
___________
Introduced by Sen. AUBERTINE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to reducing late
payments to contractors
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds and
declares that interest penalties paid by the state for overdue bills
have exceeded one million dollars each fiscal year since 1994-95, as
shown by the annual reports issued by the comptroller pursuant to subdi-
vision 3 of section 179-m of the state finance law. This inefficiency
and tardiness in meeting the state's obligations is unacceptable. Late
payments and the associated penalty interest represent a waste of
taxpayers' money, a hardship for small businesses, and a disincentive
for contractors to do state work. It is the intent of this legislation
to require the division of the budget and the executive branch agencies
of the state to identify and remedy impediments to their prompt process-
ing and payment of the state's bills.
S 2. Section 179-m of the state finance law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 4 to read as follows:
4. THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUDGET SHALL DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN FOR REDUC-
ING LATE PAYMENTS BY EXECUTIVE BRANCH AGENCIES. THE PLAN SHALL SET
REDUCTION TARGETS FOR INDIVIDUAL AGENCIES. SUCH PLAN SHALL BE SUBMITTED
TO THE GOVERNOR, THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER
OF THE ASSEMBLY NO LATER THAN OCTOBER FIRST, TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN.
S 3. Section 179-h of the state finance law, as amended by chapter 153
of the laws of 1984, is amended to read as follows:
S 179-h. Determination of appropriations against which interest
payments are to be charged. Except in situations when federal law or the
provisions of section one hundred seventy-nine-o of this article require
otherwise, an interest payment required by this article shall be paid
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01619-01-9
S. 4844 2
from [the same appropriation as that from which the related proper
invoice is paid] APPROPRIATIONS THAT OTHERWISE WOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR
THE ADMINISTRATION AND OPERATIONS OF THE STATE AGENCY WHICH INCURRED THE
INTEREST PAYMENT; provided, however, (1) that the interest payment shall
not reduce the amount of money that otherwise will be payable to the
contractor under the terms of the relevant contract and (2) that if the
obligation to make an interest payment is incurred in whole or in part
because it takes the department of audit and control more than eight
calendar days, excluding legal holidays, from the date it receives an
approvable voucher from another state agency to process a contract
payment, then the portion of the total interest payment that is attrib-
utable to delays by the department of audit and control shall be paid
from funds made available to the department of audit and control.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, if the
amount of money available from any such appropriation to the state agen-
cy which received the proper invoice is insufficient to pay the interest
and if for any reason it is not feasible for the director of the budget
to exercise the transfer or interchange authority established by section
fifty-one or ninety-three of this chapter, the director of the budget
may issue a certificate or certificates transferring or interchanging
within a fund such amount as is needed to pay the interest to said
appropriation within such fund from the unspent balance of any appropri-
ation that is available to the same state agency. In exercising the
latter transfer or interchange authority, the director of the budget
shall transfer or interchange amounts that are not needed to accomplish
the purposes for which the appropriation was made[, except, however, the
director of the budget may, to the extent he deems it practicable,
transfer or interchange amounts from appropriations that otherwise would
be available for the administration and operations of the state agency
which incurred the interest payment]. Any such certificate or certif-
icates issued by the director of the budget shall be sent to the state
comptroller and copies shall be filed with the chairman of the senate
finance committee and the chairman of the assembly ways and means
committee.
S 4. Subdivision (d) of section 139-g of the state finance law, as
amended by chapter 636 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as
follows:
(d) label those invoices of small-business and certified women and
minority-owned business concerns which that agency, department or
authority processes so as to promote the expeditious payment for
services, COMMODITIES and construction provided by such businesses on a
priority basis.
S 5. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
have become a law.