BILL NUMBER: S5695
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to providing the tempo-
rary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly the ability
to appoint members of the state university of New York's board of trus-
tees
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends section 353 of the education law by changing SUNY
board of trustee appointments by the Governor to seven and adding four
appointments by the temporary president of the senate, and four appoint-
ments by the assembly speaker.
Section 2: Amends section 353 of the education law by adding subdivision
1-a which changes the appointment process for the State University Board
of Trustees by allowing the temporary president of the Senate and the
speaker of the Assembly to appoint members when vacancies arise from
positions previously appointed by the governor. The appointments will
be made alternately between the Senate president and the Assembly speak-
er until the board composition aligns with the revised appointment
structure established in Section 1. Once this balance is achieved,
future vacancies will be filled by the designated appointing authority.
Section 3: Sets Effective Date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Under current law, the Governor appoints 15 of the 18 members of the
SUNY Board of Trustees, subject to Senate approval. This legislation
would distribute the appointments among the three branches of govern-
ment, eliminating the concentration of power to make these critical
appointments. These important members set policy for our entire public
university system and should reflect the values and perspectives of all
three branches of government.
Recent events in other states demonstrate the need for this legislation.
For example, in Florida, Governor DeSantis stunned voters by abruptly
replacing trustees at one of the state's public universities with
conservative activists committed to eliminating diversity and inclusion
programs and intent on substituting the university's traditional liberal
arts curriculum with conservative-driven ideologies. The move was
extremely disruptive to the university and its current students and
highlights the need to ensure that the power to appoint SUNY Trustee
Board members is spread across all three branches of government.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate
2022: N/A
2023: S8645, Referred to Higher Education
Assembly
2022: A6430A, Referred to Higher Education
2023: A6430A, Referred to Higher Education
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S5695: 353 education law, 353(1) education law