BILL NUMBER: S5234
SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to electronic
financial disclosures of members and candidates of the legislature
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this legislation is to increase transparency and accessi-
bility of financial disclosure statements for constituents and the elec-
torate to easily access them and search their contents.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 2 of Section 73-a (2) of the
Public Officers Law, as amended by section 5 of part A of Chapter 399 of
the laws of 2011.
Section 2 of the bill adds a paragraph (b) that requires JCOPE to make
available an editable, electronic, readable, and searchable version at
the annual statement of financial disclosure to anyone required to
submit such forms.
Section 3 of the bill establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 required New York State govern-
ment officials and State legislative candidates to file financial
disclosure statements to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE)
on an annual basis. The financial disclosure statements must be submit-
ted to JCOPE by May 15 of each calendar year, where they are thoroughly
review by the commission. After the commission approves the statements
for public posting, JCOPE is required to post such statements on their
website by June 30 of each calendar year. The intent of the act was to
comprehensively reform both the requirements and enforcement of public
ethics in the state. I applaud the intent of the act for its efforts to
restore public confidence in our government by requiring the disclosure
of outside income sources of elected officials. Posting the statements
on JCOPE's website is a step in the right direction; however providing
the statements in a searchable format allows the public to access the
information with ease.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023/2024: S3544A
2021/2022: S.1473
2019/2020: S979 Referred to Finance
2017/2018: S.5477 Referred to Finance
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately. Section one shall take effect on
January 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
S5234: 73-a public officers law, 73-a(2) public officers law