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Office of the New York State Comptroller

Comptroller DiNapoli's Legislative Program

Since taking office in 2007, Comptroller DiNapoli has proposed legislation to increase accountability and transparency of New York state and local government.  These efforts have focused on reforming not only the investment practices of the Common Retirement Fund, the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System, the New York Police and Fire Retirement System, but also the State budget process, state procurement practices and school accountability.  Comptroller DiNapoli is committed to strengthening New York’s laws to:

  • Ensure accountability, transparency and appropriate spending of taxpayer dollars,
  • Stop fraud and abuse,
  • Improve the effectiveness of government programs, and
  • Protect the interests of New York’s citizens.

 

Legislative Session 2011-2012:

  • Natural Gas Damage Compensation Fund  (Comptroller's Program Bill # 20) – S. 6543 (Libous) and A. 8572 (Sweeney) - Submitted for Introduction - Establishes the natural gas production contamination response and compensation program; and creates the New York natural gas production contamination damage recovery and remediation fund.
  • Enhanced Penalties for Abuse of Public Trust Crimes  (Comptroller’s Program Bill #1) – S. 3185-B (Abbate) and A. 5049-B (Golden) - Imposes a mandatory fine upon certain public officers convicted of a designated felony offense related to their official duties; relates to the crime of official misconduct and to abuse of public trust crimes.
  • Wage Reporting System Access  Signed into law on July 20, 2011 as Chapter 206 of the laws of 2011 (Comptroller’s Program Bill #17) – S.5460-A (Griffo) and A.7911-A (Abbate) - Provides the Retirement System with access to the Wage Reporting System administered by the Department of Tax and Finance in order to indentify “double dippers.”
  • Placement Agent Ban (Comptroller’s Program Bill #18) – S. 5632 (Rules) and A.7909 (Abbate) - Codifies the current OSC policy which bans the use of placement agents, paid intermediaries and registered lobbyists in obtaining investments with the Common Retirement Fund.
  • Comptroller Campaign Finance Reform Act (Comptroller's Program Bill #19) – S. 6512 (Rules) and A.8367-B (Silver) Enacts the Comptroller Campaign Finance Reform Act to provide for public financing for campaigns for the office of State Comptroller.
  • Local Development Corporations - Regulation (Comptroller’s Program Bill #2) –  A.7510 (Brennan) Amendments Submitted - Limits and regulates local governments' use of Local Development Corporations (LDCs) and similar entities.
  • Local Development Corporations - Audit (Comptroller’s Program Bill #25) –  A. 9689 (Magnarelli) - Relates to comptroller audits of certain organizations controlled by municipal corporations and certain other government entities.
  • Industrial Development Agencies (Comptroller’s Program Bill #24) –  A. 9690 (Magnarelli) - Provides for accountability and efficiency of industrial development agencies.
  • Sewer Debt Extender (Comptroller’s Program Bill #26) –  A. 9691 (Magnarelli) - Extends until 1/1/2024 the authority of counties, cities, towns & villages to exclude from constitutional debt limits indebtedness related to sewage facilities.
  • Local Finance Cleanup (Comptroller’s Program Bill #27) –  A. 9692 (Magnarelli) - Relates to the time frame in which municipalities and school districts that incur debt can make adjustments to their budget, updating the types of obligations and other technical amendments.
  • Fiscal Reform Act of 2011 (Comptroller’s Program Bill #3) –  S. 6365 (Libous) and A.7906 (Farrell) - Requires the Governor to identify actions to close out-year gaps as part of the state’s Financial Plan; expand the forecast to include all revenues and resources available for spending; increase reserves to cushion against budget shocks; prohibits using one-shots to pay for ongoing expenses; require joint legislative conference committees to meet publicly to negotiate the budget; establish a new Capital Asset/Infrastructure Council; and require the Executive to report 3 years of detailed spending information.
  • Fiscal Reform Act - Constitutional Amendment  (Comptroller’s Program Bill #4) – S. 6364 (Libous) and A.7907 (Farrell) - Allows for emergency borrowing in times of public emergency, prohibits “back-door borrowing,” and limits total state debt to no more than 5 percent of total state personal income.
  • Procurement Reform (Comptroller’s Program Bill #5) – S. 5817-A (Marcellino) and A.9343 (Englebright) - Specifies the procedures to be used in program procurement and allows the Comptroller to excuse non-material deviations in certain procurement procedures and provides for pilot procurement projects in certain instances.
  • Flood Bonding (Comptroller’s Program Bill #22) – S. 6478 (Bonacic) and A. 9211 (Magnarelli) - Relates to temporary alternative methods of financing flood relief expenses.
  • Reduce Retirement Waiting Period Signed into law on August 3, 2011 as Chapter 375 of the laws of 2011 (Comptroller’s Program Bill #16) – S. 5651 (Golden) and A.7834 (Abbate) - Decreases from 30 days to 15 days the minimum amount of time within which a service retirement may take effect for a prospective retiree of the New York State and Local Employees Retirement System or the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System.
  • Compliance with the Federal HEART Act Signed into law on September 23, 2011 as Chapter 582 of the laws of 2011 (Comptroller’s Program Bill #6) –  S.5558 (Ball) and A.7835-B (Abbate) - Amends the various death benefit provisions of the RSSL to bring them into compliance with the federal Heroes Earning Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008.
  • Financial Reporting - State Insurance Fund Signed into law on August 17, 2011 as Chapter 445 of the laws of 2011 (Comptroller’s Program Bill #7) – S.5540 (Seward) and A.7908 (Morelle) – Requires the State Insurance Fund to file annual audited financial statements with OSC.
  • Pollution Exclusion (Comptroller’s Program Bill #8) – S. 6344 (Grisanti) and A.7640 (Weisenberg) – Eliminates the pollution exclusion clause for oil spills in homeowner insurance policies.
  • Prompt Contracting Interest (Comptroller’s Program Bill #9) – S. 6469 (DeFrancisco) and A. 9342 (Englebright) – Requires state agencies to pay any prompt contracting interest due with the first payment to a not-for-profit under a contract approved late.
  • Education Package (Comptroller’s Program Bill #10) – S. 5689-A (Flanagan) and A.7815-A (Nolan) - Requires boards of education to authorize an increase in funding of reserve funds, requires school districts to include a schedule of all reserve funds in the districts' public budget notices, allows school districts to transfer excess EBALR funds to the operating fund or to an OPEB trust and establish reserve funds to pay for the Teachers' Retirement System employer costs.
  • Public Authorities Reform Act Cleanup (Comptroller’s Program Bill #15) – S. 5820-B (Marcellino) and A.7798-B (Brennan) - Makes necessary changes to the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009.