BILL NUMBER: S4479
SPONSOR: RAMOS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the workers' compensation law, the labor law, and the
executive law, in relation to requiring the workers' compensation board
and the department of labor to publish lists of debarred entities as
open data
 
PURPOSE:
To increase transparency of the list of entities that have been debarred
for labor and other violations through publication of lists as open data
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. amends Section 141-b of Article 8 of Chapter 67 of the Work-
ers' Compensation Law to require the Workers Compensation Board to main-
tain and publish a list of persons or entities that are non-responsible
or ineligible to bid on future contracts or grants due to violations of
this section in open data format on its website as required by Executive
Order 192 of 2019. It also requires the Board to transit the list to the
Office of General Services for publishing on the state's open data
portal, data.ny.gov.
Section 2. amends Section 220-h of Article 8 of Chapter 31 of the Labor
Law to require the Department of Labor to maintain and publish a list of
persons or entities that are non-responsible or ineligible to bid on
future contracts or grants due to violations of this section in open
data format on its website as required by Executive Order 192 of 2019.
It also requires the Department to transit the list to the Office of
General Services for publishing on the state's open data portal,
data.ny.gov.
Section 3. amends Section 239-a of Article 9 of Chapter 31 of the Labor
Law to require the Department of Labor to maintain and publish a list of
persons or entities that arc non-responsible or ineligible to bid on
future contracts or grants due to violations of this section in open
data format on its website as required by Executive Order 192 of 2019.
It also requires the Department to transit the list to the Office of
General Services for publishing on the state's open data portal,
data.ny.gov.
Section 4. amends Section 861-e of Article 25-B of Chapter 31 of the
Labor Law to require the Department of Labor to maintain and publish a
list of persons or entities that are non-responsible or ineligible to
bid on future contracts or grants due to violations of this section in
open data format on its website as required by Executive Order 192 of
2019. It also requires the Department to transit the list to the Office
of General Services for publishing on the state's open data portal.
data.ny.gov.
Section 5. Amends Section 862-d of Article 25-B of Chapter 31 of the
Labor Law to require the Department of Labor to maintain and publish a
list of persons or entities that are non-responsible or ineligible to
bid on future contracts or grants due to violations of this section in
open data format on its website as required by Executive Order 192 of
2019. It also requires the Department to transit the list to the Office
of General Services for publishing on the state's open data portal,
data.ny.gov.
Section 6. adds a new 203-c to Chapter 18, Article 10 of the Executive
Law to require the Office of General Services to maintain and publish
within five days of receipt a list of persons and entities determined to
be non-responsible or ineligible to bid on future contracts or grants in
an open data format on its website, pursuant to Executive Order 192 of
2019. It also requires the Office of General Services to publish said
lists and preserve row-level data of current and prior persons or enti-
ties on data.ny.gov, pursuant to Executive Order 95 of 2013.
Section 7. sets the effective date
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State has provisions to debar or find non-responsive persons or
entities with labor or other violations to ensure that had actors are
not able to get state contracts or grams. While Executive Order 192 of
2019 attempted to make lists of debarred entities available in a
centralized location, the way information is currently shared does not
meet best practices for transparency, such as publishing the lists in an
open data format.
Under Executive Order 192 or 2019, the Office of General Services is
required to publish on its website the persons or entities that have
been debarred or found to be non-responsive due to labor or other
violations. Additionally, state entities such as the Workers Compen-
sation Board and Department of Labor are required to maintain informa-
tion on such entities that have been debarred or deemed non-responsible,
and to submit a list of contractors to the Office of General Services.
The Office of General Services maintains a website of debarred and non-
responsive entities at hups://ogs.ny.govidebarred-and-non- responsible-
entities, which links to the Department of Labor's website. which
provides a database of debarred entities as determined by the Dept of
Labor or Workers Compensation Board at https:llapps.labormy.goviEDList;
searchPage.do.
Currently, the OGS lists and Department of Labor database of debarred
and non-responsive persons and entities are not available in open data
format, as required by Executive Order 95 of 2013, and only entities
that are currently debarred or deemed non-responsive appear on the
websites. Additionally, there is no way to obtain a full list of enti-
ties and persons currently debarred by the Workers Compensation Board.
or understand which entities were previously debarred or found non-res-
ponsive, and are now again eligible for contracts or grants.
The lack of open data for debarred and non-responsive entities severely
limits the usefulness of the lists maintained by state agencies, and
risks entities with labor and other violations being awarded contracts
or grants by the state, or other jurisdictions. Additionally, making
the list of current and prior debarred and non-responsive entities more
accessible will allow researchers. journalists and enforcement offi-
cials to have more complete information about those who have done busi-
ness with the state.
Providing open data of current and prior had actors in the contracting
sphere will help shine a light on these entities, and ensure that had
actors don't slip through the cracks and benefit from contracts or
grants paid for with public dollars.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S.9398 - Referred to Labor
 
FISCAL IMPACT:
To be Determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S4479: 220-b labor law, 220-b(3) labor law, 239-a labor law, 861-e labor law, 861-e(7) labor law, 862-d labor law, 862-d(7) labor law