BILL NUMBER: S91
SPONSOR: TEDISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to bills with a thresh-
old level of co-sponsorship
 
PURPOSE:
To allow for a piece of legislation that has garnered the co-sponsorship
of 76 members of the Assembly and 32 members in the Senate to be brought
to the floor in that respective house for a vote.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends the legislative law by adding a new section 33-a to
read as follows:
33-a. Bills with a threshold level of co-sponsorship. 1. Any bill intro-
duced in the assembly shall, upon being co-sponsored by seventy-six or
more members, be brought to the floor of the house for a vote to be
taken thereon during the legislative session in which it was introduced.
2. Any bill introduced in the senate shall, upon being co-sponsored by
thirty-two or more members, be brought to the floor of the house for a
vote to be taken thereon during the legislative session in which it was
introduced.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In theory, any piece of legislation in any legislative body that has
earned the sponsorship of more than half its members has been vetted,
passed muster and merits an open floor debate and up or down vote. This
legislation would require that those pieces of legislation that have
garnered widespread support (76 members in the Assembly/32 members in
the Senate) be discharged from committee and brought to the floor for a
vote.
It is the very concept of good governance and democracy for a legisla-
tive body to openly debate a bill in the public square that has the
support of the majority of its members, hence a majority of that legis-
lative body's constituency.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
01/15/16: S.6475 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/10/17: S.1706 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/03/18: S.1706 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/09/19: S.558 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/09/19: S.558 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/06/21: S.220 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/05/22: S.220 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/04/23: S.47 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
01/03/24: S.47 REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law.