BILL NUMBER: S2598
SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general municipal law, the general city law, the
town law and the village law, in relation to expanding training require-
ments for municipalities in relation to compliance with the open meet-
ings law
 
PURPOSE:
To require members of various municipal and local bodies to complete
annual training on compliance with the open meetings law.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 239-c of the
general municipal law to require members of county planning boards to
complete annual training in the open meetings law.
Section 2 amends subdivision 7-a of section 27 of the general city law
to require members of city planning boards to complete annual training
in the open meetings law.
Section 3 amends subdivision 7-a of section 81 of the general city law
to require members of city boards of appeal to complete annual training
in the open meetings law.
Section 4 amends subdivision 7-a of section 267 of the town law to
require members of town boards of appeal to complete annual training in
the open meetings law.
Section 5 amends subdivision 7-a of section 271 of the town law to
require members of town planning boards to complete annual training in
the open meetings law.
Section 6 amends subdivision 7-a of section 7-712 of the village law to
require members of village boards of appeal to complete annual training
in the open meetings law.
Section 7 amends subdivision 7-a of section 7-718 of the village law to
require members of village planning boards to complete annual training
in the open meetings law.
Section 8 sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The Open Meetings Law governs the accessibility of meetings held by
public bodies in New York State, ensuring that members of the public may
attend, watch, and otherwise follow the decision making of these bodies.
As the legislative declaration for the Open Meetings Law (Section 100 of
the Public Officers Law) acknowledges, public access to meetings is
vital to the continued functioning of our democracy: "The people must
be able to remain informed if they are to retain control over those who
are their public servants. It is the only climate under which the
commonweal will prosper and enable the governmental process to operate
for the benefit of those who created it."
Despite the strong safeguards contained in the Open Meetings Law, many
citizens complain of inaccessible government meetings and report what
they believe are violations of the law. The Committee of Open Government
warned in their 2023 Annual Report that "compliance failures," among
other challenges, were "contributing to a growing sense among New York-
ers that some government bodies are emboldened to ignore their Open
Meetings, FOIL, and other transparency responsibilities."' Changing
requirements have certainly added complexity for local governments
attempting to comply with the Open Meetings Law over the last few years.
The Open Meetings Law was partially suspended during the COVID-19
pandemic' and subsequent changes have temporarily allowed hybrid meet-
ings through July 1, 2026.3
This bill seeks to improve compliance with the requirements of the Open
Meetings Law by ensuring that key local government entities receive
annual training on their obligations under the Open Meetings Law. This
training will close any knowledge gaps, ensuring that lack of compliance
is not due to ignorance.
This bill builds on existing training requirements for certain local
government entities established by chapter 662 of the laws of 2006.
Under these requirements members of all county boards of appeal, and
city (excluding New York City), town, and village planning boards and
boards of appeal must complete a minimum of 4 hours of training per year
relevant to their roles. This bill would require each subject entity to
complete an additional hour of training per year on compliance with the
Open Meetings Law provided by the Committee on Open Government or anoth-
er appropriate entity.
While these requirements do not apply to every public body -- of which
there are thousands in New York State -- they will make a meaningful
difference to citizens who expect their local governments to meet basic
standards of accessibility and transparency.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S8410A/ A9988A (2023-24): Passed Senate; Referred to Local Government in
Assembly
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date when it shall become a law.
1 Committee on Open Government. "2023 Report to the Governor and State
Legislature." Accessed on January 14th, 2023 at
https://opencrovernment.nv.crov/system/files/documents/2023/12
/2023-cooq-annualreport_final.pdf
2 Beginning with Executive Order 202.1 in March, 2020.
3 Section 103A of the Public Officers Law expires and will be deemed
repealed July 1, 2026.

Statutes affected:
S2598: 239-c general municipal law, 239-c(2) general municipal law, 27 general city law, 27(7-a) general city law, 81 general city law, 81(7-a) general city law, 267 town law, 267(7-a) town law, 271 town law, 271(7-a) town law, 7-712 village law, 7-712(7-a) village law, 7-718 village law, 7-718(7-a) village law