BILL NUMBER: S1514

SPONSOR: TEDISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to enacting the "online
digital paperwork reduction act"

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to reduce the number of bills, reports,
digests, records and various documents printed by the New York State
Legislature and establish a process to make these documents available
electronically through the websites of the New York State Senate, Assem-
bly and State Agencies.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Known and cited as the Online Digital Paperwork Reduction
Act.

              

Section 2. The Executive Law is amended by adding a new section 170-d,
which reads as follows: Availability of documents. Every state agency in
the state shall make its annual reports and all other public documents
available in a digital format on its website in a manner that allows
such reports and documents to be printed. The term "state agency" is
defined.

Section 3. Establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Each year, thousands of bills are introduced and every single measure
gets printed multiple times. It has been estimated that this could save
taxpayers millions of dollars.

Eliminating automatic bill printing would save money and save resources.

Instead of having all legislation and reports printed on paper, making
them available on a digital format where lawmakers can view it on their
laptops and mobile devices would deliver significant savings.  If neces-
sary, Members of the Legislature, State Agencies and the public could
print a copy from their own computer.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed similar legislation (by a vote
of 399-0) to stop the mandatory printing of congressional bills.
Several state legislatures have gone paperless or are experimenting with
going digital. They include California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii,
Kansas, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wiscon-
sin, It's estimated that Ohio has saved $1.5 million since going
digital.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

02/18/15: S.3812 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/06/16: S.3812 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
02/03/17: S.4149 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/03/18: S.4149 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/30/18: S.4149 1ST REPORT CAL.362
02/05/18: S.4149 2ND REPORT CAL.
02/06/18: S.4149 ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
02/27/18: S.4149 AMENDED ON THIRD READING 4149A
03/26/18: S.4149A PASSED SENATE
03/26/18: S.4149A DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
03/26/18: S.4149A referred to governmental operations
06/07/18: S.4149A RECALLED FROM ASSEMBLY
06/07/18: S.4149A returned to senate
06/07/18: S.4149A VOTE RECONSIDERED - RESTORED TO THIRD READING
06/07/18: S.4149A AMENDED ON THIRD READING (T) 4149B
06/11/18: S.4149B REPASSED SENATE
06/11/18: S.4149B RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
06/11/18: S.4149B referred to governmental operations
01/14/19: S.1392 REFERRED TO FINANCE
01/08/20: S.1392 REFERRED TO FINANCE

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect on the 90th day after becoming law.