NY State Senate Bill 2025-S4657

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations 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

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 10, 2025	referred to investigations and government operations

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Legislative Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§70 - 72, add §73, Leg L

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to law revision commission membership appointment and review of judicial decisions.

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4657

SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to the law revision
commission

 
PURPOSE OF BILL:

To expand the members of the law revision commission from 5 to 10
members, modify the process for selection, clarify the Commission's
purposes, and provide a dedicated funding stream for the Commission.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 expands board membership. Currently, the governor appoints
five members. This bill would add five additional members to be
appointed, one each, by the temporary president of the senate, the
minority leader of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority
leader of the assembly, and the attorney general.

Section 2 makes a technical amendment.

Section 3 makes technical amendments and clarifies the Commission's
purposes including that requests from the governor, members of the
legislature, court of appeals judges, and the attorney general will be
prioritized for review.

Section 4 creates a designated funding stream within the joint custody
of the comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and finance to be
designated as the law revision commission fund.

Section 5 sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Justice Benjamin Cardozo, in 1921, frustrated with obsolete laws that
prevented courts from being able to impart justice, advocated for the
creation of a state agency that would be responsible for carrying out
legal research on statutory and decisional law, and make recommendations
to the Legislature 1 In 1934, in response to Cardozo's recommendation,
the Legislature established the Law Revision Commission,2 an independent
governmental body (theoldest of its kind in the common-law world)
charged with law reform through legislation.

Over the next 82 years, the Commission's recommendations led to the
enactment of more than 300 statutes. In addition, its reports identified
problems and made recommendations that were instrumental in effecting
changes in judge-made law.

At its peak, in the early 2000s, the Commission operated with over a
dozen full time staff, including lawyers and administrative support
personnel, allowing it to properly carry out its functions.  Unfortu-
nately, a series of budget cuts culminating with the Commission being
completely defunded in 2016, in conjunction with the then Governor
Andrew Cuomo's decision to stop appointing members to the Commission
(last was appointment in 2014), effectively ended the Commission.

By giving the Legislature and the Attorney General the capacity to
appoint Commission members and by creating a dedicated funding stream,
this bill would breathe new life into the Commission, allowing it to
once again serve its essential role in ensuring that the state's legal
framework remains up-to-date, clear, and effective.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
1 Harvard Law Review, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Dec., 1921)
2 Chapter 597 of the Laws of 1934

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4657
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 10, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MAYER  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
   ment Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend the legislative law, in relation  to  the  law  revision
   commission
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 70 of the legislative law, as  amended  by  chapter
 239 of the laws of 1944, is amended to read as follows:
   § 70. Commission  [created]  CONTINUED;  terms  and  qualifications of
 members. A law revision commission is hereby [created]  CONTINUED,  [to]
 AND  SHALL  consist  of  the  [chairman] CHAIRS of the committees on the
 judiciary and codes of the senate and assembly, ex-officio,  and  [five]
 TEN  additional  members,  FIVE MEMBERS to be appointed by the governor,
 ONE MEMBER TO BE APPOINTED BY THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, ONE
 MEMBER TO BE APPOINTED BY THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE SENATE, ONE  MEMBER
 TO  BE  APPOINTED  BY  THE  SPEAKER  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY, ONE MEMBER TO BE
 APPOINTED BY THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE ASSEMBLY, AND ONE MEMBER  TO  BE
 APPOINTED  BY  THE  ATTORNEY GENERAL. The members first appointed by the
 governor FOLLOWING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF  TWO
 THOUSAND  TWENTY-FIVE  THAT  AMENDED THIS SECTION shall be appointed for
 such terms that the term of one member will expire  on  each  succeeding
 thirty-first  day  of December. MEMBERS FIRST APPOINTED BY THE TEMPORARY
 PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE SENATE  SHALL  BE
 APPOINTED  FOR  A  TERM  OF  THREE YEARS. MEMBERS FIRST APPOINTED BY THE
 SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY AND THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE ASSEMBLY SHALL BE
 APPOINTED FOR A TERM OF FIVE YEARS. THE MEMBER FIRST  APPOINTED  BY  THE
 ATTORNEY  GENERAL  SHALL BE APPOINTED FOR A TERM OF FIVE YEARS. The term
 of a member thereafter appointed, except to  fill  a  vacancy  occurring
 otherwise than by expiration of term, shall be five years from the expi-
 ration  of the term of [his] SUCH MEMBER'S predecessor. A vacancy in the
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09292-01-5

 S. 4657                             2
 
 office of a member [appointed by the governor] occurring otherwise  than
 by  expiration  of  term,  shall  be filled by the [governor] APPOINTING
 AUTHORITY for ONLY the remainder [only] of the  term  OF  SUCH  MEMBER'S
 PREDECESSOR.  [Upon  making  the  original appointments] IN JULY OF EACH
 YEAR, the [governor] COMMISSION'S MEMBERSHIP shall designate one of  the
 appointed members as [chairman] CHAIR of the commission. [Upon] A VACAN-
 CY  IN the [appointment] OFFICE of [a successor to] the [chairman] CHAIR
 of the commission OCCURRING OTHERWISE THAN BY EXPIRATION OF  TERM,  [the
 governor]  shall [designate such successor or other member of] BE FILLED
 BY the [commission as chairman] COMMISSION'S  MEMBERSHIP  FOR  ONLY  THE
 REMAINDER  OF  THE  TERM  OF  SUCH  CHAIR'S  PREDECESSOR.  Four  members
 appointed by the governor shall be  attorneys  and  counselors  at  law,
 admitted  to  practice  in  the  courts of this state, OR MEMBERS OF LAW
 FACULTIES OF UNIVERSITIES OR LAW SCHOOLS WITHIN THE STATE RECOGNIZED  BY
 THE  BOARD  OF  REGENTS  OF  THE  STATE OF NEW YORK, and at least two of
 [them] SUCH MEMBERS shall be members of law faculties of universities or
 law schools within the state recognized by the board of regents  of  the
 state  of  New York. THE COMMISSION SHALL MEET IN PERSON OR VIRTUALLY AT
 LEAST ON A QUARTERLY BASIS.
   § 2. Section 71 of the legislative law, as amended by chapter  358  of
 the laws of 1961, is amended to read as follows:
   § 71. Expenses;  employees.  Each  of  the  members  of the commission
 appointed by the governor OR BY MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE shall receive
 REIMBURSEMENT FOR necessary expenses  incurred  in  the  performance  of
 official duty. The commission may appoint such employees as may be need-
 ed, prescribe their duties, and fix their compensation within the amount
 appropriated for the commission.
   § 3. Section 72 of the legislative law, as added by chapter 597 of the
 laws of 1934, is amended to read as follows:
   § 72. Purposes of commission. It shall be the duty of the law revision
 commission:
   1.  To  examine  the  common law and statutes of the state and current
 judicial decisions [for the purpose of discovering defects and  anachro-
 nisms in the law] and recommending needed reforms.
   2.  To  receive  and  consider  SUGGESTED  AREAS OF STUDY AND proposed
 changes in the law recommended by JUDGES,  JUSTICES,  PUBLIC  OFFICIALS,
 LAWYERS,   the  American  law  institute,  the  [commissioners  for  the
 promotion of uniformity of legislation in the United States] UNIFORM LAW
 COMMISSION, [any]  bar  [association  or]  ASSOCIATIONS,  other  learned
 bodies,  OR  THE  GENERAL PUBLIC. SUGGESTIONS FOR AREAS OF STUDY MADE BY
 STATUTE, THE GOVERNOR, MEMBERS OF  THE  LEGISLATURE,  COURT  OF  APPEALS
 JUDGES,  OR  THE  ATTORNEY  GENERAL  SHALL  BE GIVEN PRIORITY REVIEW FOR
 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMISSION.
   3. [To receive and consider suggestions from judges, justices,  public
 officials,  lawyers  and the public generally as to defects and anachro-
 nisms in the law.
   4.] To recommend, from time to time, such changes in  the  law  as  it
 deems  necessary  to modify or eliminate antiquated [and] OR inequitable
 rules of law, and to bring the law of this state,  civil  and  criminal,
 into harmony with modern conditions.
   [5.]  4.  To  report its proceedings annually to the legislature on or
 before February first, and, if it  deems  advisable,  to  accompany  its
 report with proposed bills to carry out any of its recommendations.
   § 4. The legislative law is amended by adding a new section 73 to read
 as follows:
 S. 4657                             3
 
   §  73.  FUNDING  OF THE COMMISSION. THERE IS HEREBY ESTABLISHED IN THE
 JOINT CUSTODY OF  THE  COMPTROLLER  AND  COMMISSIONER  OF  TAXATION  AND
 FINANCE A FUND TO BE DESIGNATED AS THE LAW REVISION COMMISSION FUND. THE
 COMMISSIONER  SHALL  DEPOSIT  INTO  THE LAW REVISION COMMISSION FUND ALL
 MONEYS  APPROPRIATED  TO  THE  LAW  REVISION  COMMISSION.  THE MONEYS SO
 RECEIVED AND DEPOSITED IN THE LAW REVISION COMMISSION FUND SHALL NOT  BE
 COMMINGLED  WITH  MONEYS  FROM THE GENERAL FUND AND SHALL BE USED SOLELY
 FOR THE PURPOSE OF CARRYING OUT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S4657

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S4657

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Sponsored By

Shelley B. Mayer

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S4657 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments