BILL NUMBER: S10593
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to the denial of
access to public records that relate to civil investigations; to amend
the executive law and the civil rights law, relating to the enforcement
powers of the attorney general; to amend the education law, in relation
to authorizing the attorney general to enforce the provisions of the
education law against covered entities who engage in discrimination and
the powers and duties of state university trustees; and to amend the
public health law, in relation to the compromise of certain claims the
state may have
 
PURPOSE:
To optimize the Office of the Attorney General's (OAG) civil litigation
capacity by shoring up and codifying its existing authority
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends a provision of the Public Officer's Law that exempts
from public disclosure law enforcement records that would reveal the
identity of a confidential informant or reveal non-routine investigative
techniques in a criminal investigation, to make it apply equally to
civil investigations.
Section 2: Amends the executive law to authorize the Attorney General,
in cases of repeated or otherwise persistent discrimination, to move
expeditiously by investigating violations and filing suit in court.
Section 3: Amends the civil rights law to provide for explicit enforce-
ment authority by the Attorney General.
Section 4: Amends the executive law to provide the Attorney General with
a cause of action permitting a lawsuit against a law enforcement agency
if there is reasonable cause to believe that agency or its employees
have engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that has deprived
persons of their rights, privileges, or immunities under New York or
federal law.
Section 5: Amends the Education Law to clarify the OAG's authority to
address repeated or persistent discrimination in public elementary and
secondary schools, school districts, and educational entities.
Sections 6: Amends the Education Law and Public Health Law in relation
to the compromise or waiver of certain claims.
Section 7: Amends the Education Law and Public Health Law in relation to
the compromise or waiver of certain claims.
Section 8: Amends the Education Law and Public Health Law in relation to
the compromise or waiver of certain claims.
Section 9: Establishes a severability clause.
Section 10: Establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The two primary roles of the New York State Attorney General (NYSAG) are
the state's Chief Legal Counsel who defends the state's laws and its
interests; and the People's Lawyer, charged with zealously protecting
the citizens of New York against any entity that encroaches on their
rights. In New York, the specific powers and duties of the Attorney
General are neither enshrined in the state constitution, nor dependent
on common law precedent. Instead, a series of statutes lay out NYSAG's
role.
While the Attorney General's Office has a wide array of powers and
responsibilities in areas from regulating charities to defending state
laws from constitutional challenges, as the state's top law enforcement
official, the AG has an extensive history of investigating and seeking
to rectify systemic civil rights violations on the local level from
police departments to schools to polling places. Over the years, each of
these roles has been solidified and expanded through extensive legisla-
tive activity, cementing NYSAG's civil enforcement authority and respon-
sibilities in these areas of public concern.
This legislation, the Civil Litigation Efficacy Omnibus(CLEO), is neces-
sary to ensure the efficient use of NYSAG resources by better codifying
the office's existing authority and ensuring that its long-standing
investigative and enforcement tools are enforceable in the modern age.
Two interrelated trends have emerged in recent years that have made this
legislation necessary. First, local entities have repeatedly challenged
NYSAG's investigative authority despite ultimate outcomes invariably
favoring NYSAG's position. Secondly, the impact of this trend has been
exacerbated exponentially by the fact that New York's civil courts are
increasingly overburdened and backlogged. As a result, when NYSAG must
seek the court's assistance to compel legal compliance from recalcitrant
subjects, even those asserting baseless arguments or no arguments at all
to justify their stonewalling, proceedings can be delayed considerably.
These trends have highlighted shortcomings in current law. For example,
when local government entities repeatedly raise jurisdictional arguments
that have already been settled by caselaw, NYSAG and the courts must
waste time and resources relitigating settled matters. Even if a busy
court hears a matter and finds that a p arty acted willfully and unrea-
sonably in defying NYSAG's lawful requests, the court has limited
options. These shortcomings in current law can have the unfortunate
effect of rewarding unreasonable noncompliance.
By passing CLEO and enacting it into law, New York can ensure that the
Attorney General has the tools he or she needs to follow through on the
legislature's statutory priorities and protect and defend the people of
this state through civil enforcement.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate
2025: S8411, Vetoed
Assembly
2025: A8869, Vetoed
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S10593: 297 executive law, 40-c civil rights law, 75 executive law, 355 education law, 355(10) education law, 2602 public health law, 2602(3) public health law, 406 public health law, 406(3) public health law