NY State Senate Bill 2013-S3498

Senate Bill S3498

2013-2014 Legislative Session

Prohibits the passage of bills by the legislature between the hours of midnight and eight o'clock a.m. unless two-thirds of the legislature is present and requires two-thirds approval for messages of necessity

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 11, 2014	opinion referred to judiciary
Jan 13, 2014	to attorney-general for opinion
Jan 08, 2014	referred to judiciary
Mar 04, 2013	opinion referred to judiciary
Feb 06, 2013	to attorney-general for opinion
Feb 04, 2013	referred to judiciary

co-Sponsors

2013-S3498 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A4762
Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Constitution, Concurrent Resolutions to Amend
Laws Affected:: Amd Art 3 §14, Constn
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: A9854
2015-2016: A1604

2013-S3498 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits the passage of bills by the legislature between the hours of midnight and eight o'clock a.m. unless 2/3 of the legislature is present; requires two-thirds approval for messages of necessity.

2013-S3498 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S3498

TITLE OF BILL:  CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY propos-
ing an amendment to section 14 of article 3 of the constitution, in
relation to prohibiting the passage of bills between the hours of
midnight and eight o'clock a.m.  and requiring two-thirds approval for
messages of necessity

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends section 14 of Article 3 of the New York State Consti-
tution to create new subsections;

a. requiring a 2/3 vote of the Assembly and Senate accepting a message
of necessity from the governor or acting governor;

b. bills that have aged shall be passed by a majority of members of the
Assembly and Senate;

c. bills shall not be passed in session between 12 o'clock midnight and
8 o'clock a.m., unless session is voted upon to continue by 2/3 of the
Assembly and Senate;

d. no amendments shall be considered upon the last reading of the bill.

Section 2: That the forgoing be referred to the first regular legisla-

tive session convening after the next succeeding general election of
members of the Assembly, and, in conformity with Section 1 of Article 19
of the Constitution, be published for 3 months previous to the time of
such election.

JUSTIFICATION:  Recent uses of the messages of necessity by the Gover-
nors' office have been applied to push through legislation in an effort
to avoid debate, dissection, discussion, and criticism.  Legislative
initiatives such as the NY SAFE Act, Redistricting, Casino Gambling,
expansion of the DNA Database, Pension Reform and the Teacher Evalu-
ations were all pushed through the legislature and signed by the Gover-
nor under the cover of darkness with zero input from the public. This
bill is introduced to prevent secret government from keeping many legis-
lators, the public and the media in the dark when significant legis-
lation is being discussed.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is new bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall be referred to the first regular legisla-
tive session convening after the next succeeding general election of
members of the Assembly, and, in conformity with Section 1 of Article 19
of the Constitution, be published for 3 months previous to the time of
such election.

2013-S3498 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  3498

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 4, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  BALL  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary

            CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY

proposing an amendment to section 14 of article 3 of  the  constitution,
  in  relation  to prohibiting the passage of bills between the hours of
  midnight and eight o'clock a.m.  and requiring two-thirds approval for
  messages of necessity

  Section 1. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 14 of arti-
cle 3 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:
  S 14. No bill shall be passed or become a law:
  A. unless it shall have  been  printed  and  upon  the  desks  of  the
members,  in  its  final  form, at least three calendar legislative days
prior to its final passage, unless the governor, or the acting governor,
shall have certified, under his or her hand and the seal of  the  state,
the  facts  which  in  his  or her opinion necessitate an immediate vote
thereon AND TWO-THIRDS OF THE MEMBERS ELECTED  TO  EACH  BRANCH  OF  THE
LEGISLATURE  ASSENT  TO SUCH FACTS THAT NECESSITATE SUCH IMMEDIATE VOTE,
in which case it must nevertheless be upon the desks of the  members  in
final  form,  not  necessarily  printed,  before its final passage; [nor
shall any bill be passed or become a law,]
  B. except by the assent of a majority of the members elected  to  each
branch of the legislature;
  C.    BETWEEN  THE HOURS OF MIDNIGHT AND EIGHT O'CLOCK A.M.; PROVIDED,
HOWEVER THAT THIS PROVISION MAY BE WAIVED UPON THE ASSENT OF  TWO-THIRDS
OF THE MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH BRANCH OF THE LEGISLATURE; and
  D.  upon  the  last  reading  of a bill, no amendment thereof shall be
allowed, and the question upon its final passage shall  be  taken  imme-
diately thereafter, and the ayes and nays entered on the journal.
  S 2. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the foregoing be referred
to  the  first  regular  legislative  session  convening  after the next
succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in conform-
ity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be published for 3
months previous to the time of such election.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD89099-01-3

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Senate Bill S3498

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Greg Ball