May 25, 2007
The 2007 County Directory is now available
The 2007 County Directory—the only up-to-date comprehensive listing for elected and appointed county officials across the state—is now available through NYSAC. This easy to use, county-by-county reference also has separate listings of county executives, county board chairs and more than 20 affiliated county associations.
To order your directory, visit http://www.nysac.org/About/County_Directory.php.
NYSAC sets Fall Seminar dates!
The 2007 NYSAC Annual Fall Seminar will be held September 19-21, 2007 at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center in Albany. The NYSAC staff is in the process of putting together a top-notch program of standing committee meetings, educational sessions and plenary activities designed to support the ongoing efforts of today's county officials.
Check our website for updates at http://www.nysac.org/Conferences/Fall_Seminar.php.
Governor Proposes Public Authorities Reform
This week Governor Spitzer submitted public authorities reform legislation focused on “Improving corporate governance, increasing oversight and eliminating redundant or unnecessary authorities are important steps in advancing meaningful government reform.” Under this plan, public authorities would be subject to increased accountability and reporting requirements.
Among the specific provisions of the plan, the legislation would:
- Convert the “Authority Budget Office,” an oversight office located within the Division of Budget, into the “Independent Office of Public Authority Accountability” to be headed by a director appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate and Assembly;
- Empower the Authority Office to obtain from public authorities all the documents it may need to fulfill its oversight functions;
- Require the Authority Office to report authority-related misconduct to the State Inspector General or, for local authorities, a local District Attorney or investigative body;
- Require authority board members to perform their roles in a manner consistent with the duties of a fiduciary, by acting in good faith and with loyalty and due care toward the authority they serve;
- Require greater reporting from public authorities to the Authority Office, to be made publicly available by the office, including four-year budgets, lists of assets sold without competitive bidding, and the names of all authority subsidiaries;
- Charge the Authority Office with creating a classification system for public authorities and their subsidiaries; and
- Require all state public authorities to comply with the state contracting requirements regarding women- and minority-owned businesses.
A second bill submitted by the Governor would eliminate over 200 individual public authorities, which are operationally defunct and largely exist in name only. Prior to the bills introduction, NYSAC had contacted the counties with effected authorities to determine if these authorities were in fact non-operational.
A full list of the public authorities that would be eliminated is available at http://www.nysac.org/documents/DefunctPublicAuthorities.pdf. For more information, please contact the NYSAC offices. (Ken Crannell)
Census Bureau Releases Estimates of Population for New York Counties
After almost two decades of stagnant growth, New York is facing the prospect of losing millions of dollars in federal resources, declining influence in our nation’s capital because of loss of congressional representation, and the erosion of our leadership status as the Empire State because of the continuing flight of our most precious resource, our children, to other parts of the country.
An examination of the population estimates show that New York State grew in population 1.7% since the last census compared with a national rate of 6.4% for the same period. New York’s percentage rate of growth ranks 43rd in the nation and its actual population increase ranks 13th, when it is compared to the actual and percentage growth rates of other states.
29 New York counties lost population since the last census according to the estimates, 28 of which are in upstate New York. An additional 10 counties, 9 of which are in Upstate New York, grew at less than the overall state growth rate of 1.7%. A total of 39 of New York’s 62 counties (63%) have either lost population or grown less than 1.7% since the year 2000. Only 3 counties exceed the nation growth percentage of 6.4%.
The estimates also indicate that the state has experienced a 7% decline in citizens between the ages of 25-44, and a decline of almost 9% in primary school aged children between the ages of 5 and 13 years of age. If national and state population trends continue at current levels, New York will lose an additional 2 Congressional seats following the 2010 census. Upstate New York will be further adversely affected since 4 upstate congressional districts are in areas of almost total population loss.
New York’s population growth rankings of 43rd in percentage growth and 13th in actual increase in the number of people, also does not bode well in terms of the states relative share of a decreasing pool of federal resources. (Jeff Osinski)
Legislature passes measure exempting farm buildings from new building codes
A bill that will exempt agricultural buildings from the newly adopted fire and building code standards passed both houses of the State Legislature this past week.
Recently, the Department of State issued new regulations requiring that all non-residential buildings be inspected for compliance with aspects of the Property Maintenance Code of New York State and the Fire Code of New York State. Unfortunately, these two codes do not accommodate for non-residential agricultural buildings. This bill will extend an established exemption to the other various New York building codes for farm buildings, and avoid costly unnecessary regulation by local code enforcement officials.
The bill, which is supported by both the Western and Adirondack Intercounty groups and several individual counties, has been sent to the Governor next for his consideration. NYSAC supports this bill and has recommended to the Governor that he sign the measure into law. (Peter Savage)
Proposals to Mandate Disability Payments for Family Leave Floated in Capital
Proposals to mandate temporary disability insurance coverage for family leave were introduced in both houses of the legislature recently.
The first bill is Governor’s Program Bill #28, which was introduced as S.5821 by Senator Thomas Morahan (R Orange/Rockland). The measure will mandate that all employers except state and local governments provide temporary disability insurance benefit payments to any employee who takes family leave to “to bond with a newborn, newly adopted child, or newly placed foster child, to care for a seriously ill parent, child, spouse, domestic partner or grandchild.”
State and local governments who do not currently provide the Temporary Disability benefit through a negotiated agreement with their public employee unions could opt to provide this benefit if it is included in future collective bargaining agreements. Those governments currently providing a Temporary Disability Benefit through existing labor contracts could provide this coverage for family leave. Approximately 40% of New York counties surveyed by NYSAC currently provide Temporary Disability Insurance benefits under this program.
The bill structures this mandated paid leave under the Temporary Disability Insurance program administered by the Workers Compensation Board. The bill would mandate the payment of 12 weeks of temporary disability benefits, up to $170 per week to employees who wish to take family leave. In addition, the bill would increase the current cap on withholding from employees for disability coverage from its current $.60 per week to $1.05 per week to cover the cost of this additional benefit. The bill would take effect on July 1, 2008.
A second bill, introduced in the Assembly by Assembly Labor Committee Chair Catherine Nolan (D- Queens), A07999, includes many of the same requirements as the Governor’s Program Bill #28 introduced in the Senate. The Assembly bill would also require the provision of family leave benefits, but would mandate that the family leave and general temporary disability benefit be provided by the state and all local governments as well as all private employers.
The bill would authorize up to 14 weeks of family leave under the program and would raise the benefit payment rate cap for all disability leave including family leave, from its current $170 per week to $380 per week on July 1, 2008 and to an amount not to exceed $440 in July of 2009.
NYSAC has been meeting on the various paid family leave proposals and is closely monitoring this potential new personnel mandate. (Jeff Osinski)
Senate Measure Expands State DNA Databank
This week the State Senate passed legislation expanding the DNA databank by requiring the collection of DNA from all individuals convicted of a crime in New York State. The bill also seeks to improve methods for collection and preservation of DNA evidence and extend the statute of limitations for cases based on DNA evidence.
The bill, S.5848 has no companion legislation in the Assembly. In the past, the Assembly has been hesitant to address an all crimes DNA expansion, citing concerns of due process and DNA playing a role in the wrongful conviction of individuals. The Assembly contends if the State collects millions of DNA samples from individuals convicted of all crimes, it is likely that there will inevitably be individuals wrongly identified as suspects in cases.
While this bill will require probation departments to gather thousands of DNA samples, it does contain provisions that will allow counties to impose a DNA collection fee of up to fifty dollars on designated offenders.
Last year New York State adopted legislation expanding the DNA Databank by requiring samples from all individuals convicted on felonies and the most common misdemeanors. This bill would take the expansion one step further by requiring all individuals convicted of a crime, as well as individuals currently serving a sentence of probation, parole supervision or registered as sex offenders. (Adriano Bongiorno)
Food for Thought: Governor Signs Executive Order on Food Policy
Governor Spitzer has signed an Executive Order establishing a New York State Council on Food Policy. The Council will coordinate state agriculture policy and make recommendations on developing food policy that will help ensure the availability of safe, fresh, nutritious and affordable food for all New Yorkers, especially low income residents, senior citizens and children. The Council will look at ways to increase sales of New York agricultural products to New York consumers, with a special emphasis on expanding the consumer market for organic food. The New York State Council on Food Policy will include 21 representatives from all areas of the food system, including six agency heads. The State Agriculture Commissioner will serve as the Chairperson. He will be joined by the Commissioners of Health, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Aging, Economic Development and the Consumer Protection Board. The other members will be appointed by the Governor and will include the Dean of the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; 1 farm organization representative; 1 school food administrator; 1 consumer representative; 2 food assistance organization representatives; 1 nutritionist; 1 anti-hunger advocate; and 3 representatives from the food industry at large, which could include producers, distributors, processors or retailers with at least one involved in organic production. There will also be four appointed positions for members with experience and expertise related to agriculture, nutrition or food policy that will be recommended by the leaders of the Assembly and Senate. In addition to coordinating food policy, the Council will develop a strategic plan to ensure access to affordable, fresh, healthy, nutritious food and expand agricultural production, especially locally-grown and organically-grown food. (Jessica Morelli)
Next Week
- The Assembly and Senate are scheduled to be in Legislative Session from Tuesday through Thursday.
- Shared Services Conference to be held on Thursday, May 31, 2007 in Batavia, Genesee County. For more, visit http://cardi.cce.cornell.edu/editorstree/view/123.
