BILL NUMBER: S5038

SPONSOR: LANZA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to certain appoint-
ments by the governor and the senate

 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:

This bill would amend the public officers law to ensure the legislature
is given an appropriate amount of time to confirm and reject such
appointments, and given an appropriate amount of time to hold a hearing
on such appointments.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Section 7 of the public officers law, as amended by chapter
230 of the laws of 1949, is amended to read as follows:

§ 7. Appointment by the governor and senate.

              

1. An appointment to an office by the governor by and with the advice
and consent of the senate, shall be made by communicating to the senate,
while in session, a written nomination of a person for the office,
designating the residence of the nominee, and if nominated to be an
officer of a political subdivision of the state, designating also such
subdivision, and if nominating two or more persons to the same office
for different terms, designating the term for which each is nominated.
If such nomination be of a successor to a predecessor in the same
office, it may be made and acted upon by the senate after the expiration
of the term or occurrence of a vacancy in the office of such predeces-
sor, or at any time during the legislative session of the calendar year
in which the term of office of such predecessor shall expire or in which
the office shall become vacant. If the appointment be made before the
expiration of the term of such predecessor, the term of office of the
appointee shall commence upon the expiration of the term of such prede-
cessor, or if made to fill a vacancy, upon the occurrence of such vacan-
cy, or immediately if a vacancy already exist. If the senate shall
reject such nomination, the secretary of the senate shall f orthwith
communicate, by writing, signed by him and by the president of the
senate, to the governor the fact of such rejection. If the senate shall
confirm such nomination the appointment shall be deemed complete, and
thereupon duplicate certificates of the confirmation shall be made and
signed by the president and secretary of the senate, who shall cause one
to be delivered to the governor and the other to the secretary of state,
who shall record the same in his office in a book kept for that purpose.

2. Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section, when an appointment
to an office by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the
senate is communicated, in the form of a written nomination of a person
for the office, the senate shall wait at least thirty days to confirm or
reject such nomination from the date such written nomination was
received. If the senate acts to confirm or reject such nomination within
thirty days, such action:

(a) shall be deemed void; and


(b) shall not be reconsidered until thirty days have elapsed from the
date of such illegal confirmation or rejection.

3. Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section, when an appointment
to an office by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the
senate is communicated, in the form of a written nomination of a person
for the office, the senate shall hold a hearing on such nomination with-
in fifteen days after the communication of such nomination. If the
senate acts to confirm or reject such nomination without having held a
hearing within fifteen days of the communication of such nomination,
then such action to confirm or reject such nominations shall be deemed
void.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill would amend the public officers law by, (1) requiring a thirty
day period to confirm or reject such nomination from the date such writ-
ten nomination was received, (2) requiring a hearing on such nomination
within fifteen days of the communication of such nomination. If the
senate acts to confirm or reject such nomination within thirty days,
that nomination will either be deemed void or shall not be reconsidered
until thirty days have elapsed from the date of such illegal confirma-
tion or rejection. If the senate acts to confirm or reject such nomi-
nation without having held a hearing within fifteen days of the communi-
cation of such nomination, then such action to confirm or reject
nominations shall be deemed void.

Currently, there is no law to ensure the legislature has the appropriate
amount of time to confirm or reject such appointments, as well as the
appropriate amount of time for a hearing on such appointments. An
appointment to an office by the governor shall be made by communication
to the senate, while in session. This leaves as little as one week where
nominations can be received, with four or even three days to confirm or
reject such appointments. That could lead to the senate having only one
week to accurately review, at times, over 100 separate appointments.

In order to ensure that the process of these appointments aòre accurate
and thorough, it is imperative to give the legislature an appropriate
amount of time to do so. These nominations are not for frivolous posi-
tions, these nominations are for leadership roles within the state of
New York. Included within these roles are appointments to the highest
court in New York state. It is only fair to New Yorkers to put into law
a structured process to ensure these appointments are given the appro-
priate consideration.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2022: S.7246 - Referred to Investigations

2021: S.7246 - Referred to Rules

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.