NY State Senate Bill 2025-S4730

Senate Bill S4730

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Prohibits state officers and employees from official involvement with a state project where the officer or employee acted as a consultant on such project

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Ethics And Internal Governance 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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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 12, 2025	referred to ethics and internal governance

2025-S4730 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Ethics And Internal Governance
Law Section:: Public Officers Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §74, Pub Off L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S5540
2023-2024: S2010

2025-S4730 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits state officers and employees from official involvement with a state project where the officer or employee acted as a consultant on such project.

2025-S4730 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4730

SPONSOR: SANDERS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to prohibiting
state officers and employees from official involvement with a state
project where the officer or employee acted as a consultant on such
project

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To prevent state officers and employees from participating in state
projects' where they acted as consultant

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

No officer or employee of a state agency will perform any official duty
or function in a project funded by the state, where such officer or
employee has previously entered into a contract for consulting services
prior to employment with the state agency.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Prior to the pandemic, St. John's Episcopal Hospital (SJEH) was working
with an independent consulting firm, hired by the State Department of
Health to analyze the hospital's operations. One of these consultants
who became intimately aware of the accounting, personnel, and workings
of SJEH was then appointed as Deputy Secretary for Health and Human
Services for the NYS Department of Health. In this role, this individual
had jurisdiction over the review of SJEH and created proposals that
would have drastically altered services at SJEH. After working as an
independent consultant, this conflict of interest should have made this
person unable to work on this project, as they were acutely aware of
their operations.  Consultants play an important role in assisting agen-
cies in New York State. However, a distinction must be made when a
consultant becomes a government employee. These employees should not be
able to work on projects with parties on which they have previously
consulted.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2022 SENATE THIRD READING

2022 referred to assembly governmental operations

2021 SENATE THIRD READING

2021 referred to assembly governmental operations

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S4730 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4730
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 12, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Ethics and Internal Gover-
   nance
 
 AN ACT to amend the public officers  law,  in  relation  to  prohibiting
   state  officers  and  employees from official involvement with a state
   project where the officer or employee acted as a  consultant  on  such
   project
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 74 of the public officers  law  is
 amended by adding a new paragraph j to read as follows:
   J. NO OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE OF A STATE AGENCY SHALL PERFORM ANY OFFICIAL
 DUTY  OR  FUNCTION,  INCLUDING  BUT  NOT  LIMITED  TO  THE  EXERCISE  OF
 DISCRETION OR OTHER DECISION MAKING NORMALLY ATTENDANT TO SUCH OFFICER'S
 OR EMPLOYEE'S OFFICE, OR OTHERWISE  ACT  IN  ANY  OFFICIAL  CAPACITY  OR
 DISCHARGE ANY DUTIES WITH RESPECT TO A PROJECT FUNDED BY THE STATE WHERE
 SUCH  OFFICER  OR  EMPLOYEE  HAS  PREVIOUSLY ENTERED INTO A CONTRACT FOR
 CONSULTING SERVICES INVOLVING SUCH PROJECT PRIOR TO  SUCH  OFFICER'S  OR
 EMPLOYEE'S  EMPLOYMENT  WITH SUCH STATE AGENCY. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS
 SECTION, A "CONTRACT FOR CONSULTING SERVICES" SHALL  MEAN  ANY  CONTRACT
 ENTERED  INTO  BY  A  STATE  AGENCY  FOR ANALYSIS, EVALUATION, RESEARCH,
 TRAINING, DATA PROCESSING, COMPUTER PROGRAMMING,  ENGINEERING,  ENVIRON-
 MENTAL  HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, ACCOUNTING, AUDITING, PARALE-
 GAL, LEGAL, OR SIMILAR SERVICES.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09262-01-5

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