BILL NUMBER: S9246
SPONSOR: MANNION
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to requiring boards
of visitors provide greater transparency to the public regarding such
boards' activities
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to require the Boards of Visitors to make
their by-laws, meetings, and other activities more transparent and
accessible to the public.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill would require the Governor and the Legislature to
be notified of elected Board officers and that by-laws, meetings, and
other activities of the Boards be posted on the Office for People with
Developmental Disabilities' (OPWDD) website and made publicly available.
Section 2 of this bill provides that the effective date shall take
effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a
law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The Boards of Visitors ("the Boards") are tasked with providing over-
sight for the dozens of residences for individuals with intellectual and
developmental disabilities. As part of these duties, they are required
to visit each residence regularly and provide reports to State offi-
cials. Additionally, the Boards are required to hold bi-monthly meetings
to discuss these reports and their findings or recommendations about
residential operations. However, information about these meetings and
other activities - and even the membership of the Boards - is difficult
to obtain. There is no centralized location for this information and
many records are kept by hand. Information about the Boards' activities
must be made available to the public.
Furthermore, a lack of public information makes it challenging to deter-
mine if the Boards are fulfilling their statutory responsibilities.
There is great public interest in the Boards' work, as it is critical to
the overall health of the OPWDD system for such work to be done in the
public eye. This bill would require that Boards of Visitors provide
greater transparency to the public regarding such boards' activities.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become a law.