Source: https://nyassembly.gov/comm/Oversight/2003Annual/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 04:14:00+00:00

Document:
It is with great pride that I present to you the 2003 Annual Report of the Assembly Standing Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation. Contained within this report are summaries of the Committee’s major projects during 2003. Also included are previous project reviews and planned future activities.
Programmatic and fiscal reforms which govern the adult home industry.
As Chair of the Oversight Committee, I have been privileged to work with you, the Chairs of other Assembly Standing Committees and my Assembly colleagues. Our duty as legislators demands that we pay attention to detail and formulate sound policy based on what we learn. This Committee fulfills its mandate to strengthen accountability and efficiency of the State while protecting our neediest citizens.
This annual report is dedicated to the memory of Assemblyman Jacob Gunther, a majority Member on the Assembly Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation from 2001 until his death in 2003. "Jake," as he was known, requested his assignment to the Oversight Committee because he recognized its importance to the people of this State. Jake believed that ensuring compliance with laws and programs passed by the Legislature would make the lives of his friends and neighbors safer. To his wife Aileen and their three children, we thank you for sharing Jake with the Oversight family.
This annual report also recognizes the tremendous contributions to the Committee’s work by staff member Virginia "Ginny" Rosenbloom. In January of 2003, Ginny was involved in a tragic car accident. Since that time, Ginny has been recuperating and receiving treatment for her continued care. We miss Ginny terribly and send her and her family our love and our thanks.
Legislative oversight is the most effective means of enforcing legislative intent, ensuring that a program actually works, and promoting sound policy decisions. Oversight investigations shed light on government actions to ensure honesty and efficiency in the administration of laws. The oversight process considers whether programs operate in a manner consistent with the requirements placed upon them and whether funds are effectively spent. By providing key information on program performance and spending, oversight lays the foundation for sound policy judgments.
The Assembly’s oversight role was strengthened when its House rules were amended to allow standing committees more time to focus on oversight. Specifically, House Rule IV, §1(c) was revised to require all standing committees to "devote substantial efforts to the oversight and analysis of activities, including but not limited to the implementation and administration of programs, of departments, agencies, divisions, authorities, boards, commissions, public benefit corporations and other entities within its jurisdiction."
The Committee conducts program and budget reviews both jointly with other Committees and individually based on suggestions of the Speaker, the Committee Chair, individual members, governmental sources, or the public. Projects can be short-term, involving only a few telephone calls, or in-depth, requiring legislative, financial and historical data collection, field investigations, on-site State agency visits, interviews, and public hearings.
The Committee has incorporated oversight activity into the legislative process. With expertise in research and data collection, the Committee acts as a resource to other Assembly standing committees, lawmakers and staff by providing technical assistance and guidance during program reviews. Additionally, each lawmaker is provided with a copy of the Committee’s A Guide to Legislative Oversight, which explains how effective oversight reviews are conducted and sets forth the Assembly’s authority to perform oversight activities. The Committee also acts as a repository of other information critical to the Legislature’s oversight function: Comptroller’s Audits, State agencies 90-day responses and reporting requirements mandated by law.
Oversight actions help to ensure government institutions live up to their statutory requirements. A major responsibility of the Legislature is ensuring that programs are executed in accordance with legislative intent. With this goal in mind, the Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation is charged with evaluating programs in New York State. Research, outreach, information gathering and legislative development were all employed to improve the level of accountability, honesty and efficiency of New York State government.
During 2003, the Committee was involved in a number of diverse projects, some of which had begun in other years. Investigations were sparked by recent events, the interests of the Committee Chair and other Assembly members, and some were done in conjunction with other Assembly Standing Committees and Commissions. Legislation was introduced and advanced to address problems raised during these investigations.
The major Committee focus in 2003 continued to be on security. The committee investigated the security of New York State’s and New York City’s water supply and the security of personal information in cyberspace. Additionally, the Committee focused on issues relating to children, including their safety from unsafe products in day care settings and their access to outdoor playground space. Consumer issues concerning cable television also received the Committee’s attention.
During 2003, the Oversight Committee continued its investigation of water security issues. The Committee’s work followed two tracks. One was to continue monitoring NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) actions to strengthen in-City water security. This followed Chairman Klein’s issuance of the 2002 report, NYC Water Infrastructure; Is Security Water-Tight? See Appendix A for further details about this report.
However, the bulk of the Committee’s activities in 2003 focused on a statewide picture. Were water suppliers in compliance with Public Health Law (PHL) §1125? Were State and County Health Departments adequately performing their oversight and monitoring functions? The law requires water suppliers to file a water supply emergency plan (WSEP) which must be approved by the State Department of Health (DoH). The plan must include a vulnerability assessment.
In early 2002, Chairman Klein, together with Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried and Environmental Conservation Chairman Thomas DiNapoli, wrote to Health Commissioner Novello, seeking information about water supply emergency planning. The May 2002 response from the DoH’s Director for the Center for Environmental Health led the Committees to contact County Health Departments for some of the information. The State Department of Health advised the Committees that counties were acting as intermediaries between local public water suppliers and the State Department of Health. These additional letters were, for the most part, sent to a supervising entity, i.e. a County Health Department, State DoH Regional Office, or large scale water supplier.
Responses were received from most entities, including County Health Departments, the State DoH Regional Office administrators, State DoH, and New York City. In many cases the responses were deficient in some regard. In order to gain information on these systems, follow-up phone calls, e-mails and faxes were used to fill in gaps. Every county was contacted, and as a result, staff identified 379 water suppliers who filed a Water Supply Emergency Plan. This was far in excess of the 223 originally reported by the State Department of Health.
Two important actions took place in 2002 which drove the Committee’s 2003 activities. Chairman Klein introduced legislation which became Chapter 405 of the Laws of 2002. His legislation amended Public Health Law §1125, requiring that the vulnerability assessment of the water supply consider terrorism threats. Such updated plans had to be submitted to DoH for approval by January 1, 2003. At a meeting with the NYC DEP Commissioner in October of 2002, Chairman Klein was briefed on departmental actions to enhance in-City water facility security at selected facilities in and around New York City. These NYC DEP actions addressed many of the problems identified in Klein’s 2002 report. However, it was also learned at this meeting that New York City had not completed its water supply emergency plan, nor had it addressed the new Klein law that vulnerability to terrorism be assessed. This admission by DEP caused Chairman Klein to direct staff to broaden its compliance assessment of PHL §1125, to include compliance with the new Chapter 405 provision.
Throughout 2003, the three Chairs sent follow-up letters while Assembly staff continued communicating with the Department of Health and local Health Departments. Staff analyzed the data on hand and learned that the standard applied for determining which water suppliers needed to file a WSEP was different than what New York law required. This revelation led to additional follow-up with State and county officials throughout 2003.
In October 2003 Committee staff and DoH officials met to review water supply emergency plan issues and to receive information on the status of the approval process for the plans. DoH offered new numbers on which systems had gained approval and which had not. Unfortunately, this information showed that the majority of the water supply emergency plans still did not have final approval and many of the State’s largest cities still did not have approved plans. New York City’s plan had not even been forwarded to DoH. At this same meeting, DoH officials promised to provide a breakdown of approval status in order to better clarify where many of the plans stood in the approval process. As of December 2003, no response had been received.
Chairman Klein anticipates completing the Committees’ analysis and presenting their findings in a published report in early 2004.
On NYC water security activities, progress was made. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection announced the start of a community outreach program called "Water Watch." This program is intended to assist DEP’s environmental police in monitoring the safety of the Agency’s water supply facilities both in-city and in the upstate watersheds. This information was included in the first in a series of new committee publications entitled The Public Eye: Update on Committee Investigations. (See the Public Eye section of this Annual Report for more detail.) Additionally, DEP also outlined plans to implement security improvements at sites throughout New York City, many of which directly addressed issues raised in Chairman Klein’s 2002 report.
If you don’t know what you have, how can you protect it? In this day and age of computer hackers, security breaches and stolen identity, an inventory of the State’s information technology (IT) resources is an obvious first step to ensuring data security.
In 1997, the New York State Legislature created the New York State Office for Technology (OFT) which included in its charge the securing of the State’s information assets. The Legislature directed OFT to account for State computers by conducting an inventory of the State’s information and telecommunication systems and to issue a report to the Legislature detailing those results. Section 206-a (12) of the Executive Law required OFT to submit a report to the Legislature and Governor on the final inventory by October 2002. OFT did not do so. Key Assembly Committees, led by Oversight, made repeated inquiries and requests for the report.
Concerned that New York State’s computer systems were not being accounted for and State expenditures were at risk, Assemblyman Jeff Klein, Assembly Governmental Operations Chair RoAnn M. Destito and Assembly Government Administration Chair David Koon released an analysis in February 2003 of the potential fiscal impact of failing to prepare a computer systems inventory.
Potential financial risk to New York of over $500 million because of the lack of an inventory.
The Director of the Budget should submit a report to the Legislature that includes IT project specific information including details on vendors, lifetime contract costs, availability of the contract to other governmental bodies, cost increasing contract amendments, the total of all money spent on the contract and financing arrangements for projects.
Chairman Klein introduced Assembly Bill A.6977 in March of 2003 to require this more detailed budget information. For a more detailed discussion of this legislation, please refer to the Procurement section of this report. The Director of OFT promised a report by June 30, 2003.
OFT standards should be updated to reflect current industry standards and best practices.
Selection criteria for Information Security Officers should be tightened.
On August 15, 2003, ten months past the due date, OFT finally sent a report to the Legislature. Entitled the 2003 Baseline Statewide Information Technology Inventory, the report fell short of satisfying all of the statutory reporting requirements.
A more detailed breakdown for planned purchases for the next few years. Instead of the required "Expected Retirement Schedule" needed for detailed financial planning, OFT had provided an "Average Replacement Timeframe."
Following Klein’s issuance of his cyber-security report, he introduced Assembly bill A.9184 on September 29, 2003. The bill provides innocent people with notice that their personal information may have been compromised by a computer hacker. This bill requires any State agency or business with a computerized database which includes vulnerable personal information to disclose any breach of security to any resident of New York State whose personal information may have been acquired by an unauthorized person. This bill also addresses how an agency is to respond when personal information is exposed and what the enforcement provisions are if such an act should occur.
In other action to secure the private information of internet users, Assembly Member Klein and 24 other Assembly members sponsored Assembly bill A.4385, known as the "New York State Internet Privacy Law." This legislation would create rigorous privacy rules, which New York State could enforce against web site operators who hold out to the public that they offer privacy protection.
Adding Information Security Officers and upgrading to supported software by most agencies.
New York State’s government computers store information about the State’s critical infrastructures, personal data, infectious diseases, criminal records, financial documents and more. The violation of computer security costs millions of dollars, can be life threatening and erodes the trust between government and the citizens it serves. Assemblyman Klein will continue to monitor, legislate and investigate cyber security in New York State.
Authorizing OCFS to revoke or refuse to renew the registration or license of any child care facility should the licensee or registrant not comply with these provisions of the Act.
Directing inspectors to verify that providers stay current with recall information and that they maintain a child care setting free from unsafe products.
A December 2003 report issued by the New York State Attorney General ("The Attorney General’s Thrift Shop Initiative: Removing Dangerous Children’s and Other Consumer Products from the Secondary Marketplace") and the New York Public Interest Research Group’s (NYPIRG) 2003 Toy Safety Report ("Trouble in Toyland"), both noted support for this legislation.
Chairman Klein will continue to work with the Attorney General, OCFS, NYCDOH and advocacy groups like NYPIRG, Kids in Danger and the Safe Kids Coalition to bring public attention to this important issue. As these and other actions are pursued and take effect, Chairman Klein will reassess the scope of his legislation and pursue its consideration during the 2004 legislative session.
Outdoor recreational playground space at New York City public schools has long been recognized as an important tool to encourage school age children to lead active, healthy and physically fit lifestyles.
Chairman Klein’s Oversight investigation has discovered that the well being of New York City’s children is threatened by non-compliance with the State law that mandates adequate outdoor playground space in their schools. New York Education Law §2556(5) states, in part, that "it shall be unlawful for a schoolhouse to be constructed in the city of New York without an open-air playground attached to or used in connection with same."
Assemblyman Klein directed the Committee staff to assess compliance with the law, including examining State Education Department oversight of New York City facilities, and the status of educational recreational facilities in New York City. Assemblyman Klein’s report No Room In The Playground was issued in September of 2003. It revealed inadequate outdoor recreation space available to New York City’s elementary school children. The Report also found that State and City agencies failed to consider outside playground space as both a priority measure and a mandatory requirement according to New York Education Law §2556 (5).
NYC provides a standard for outdoor playground space, but it does not effectively monitor schools’ compliance with that standard. The City fails to collect and maintain square footage data which would determine if a school met these standards.
In releasing his report, Chairman Klein said "Our kids need to be outside and moving, in order to experience healthy play and exercise. These are important life lessons and our schools must be equipped with the facilities to ensure these lessons can be taught."
NYC school officials must expand the effective Joint Operating Playgrounds (JOP) program with the Parks Department, to provide more park facilities to schools suffering from insufficient outdoor playground space.
Following release of the Report, the Committee had a number of meetings with the State Education Department regarding enforcement of the law. Assemblyman Klein plans to introduce legislation ensuring that any changes to existing playground space not be permitted unless an alternative plan, approved by the Commissioner, provides space of at least equal size for outdoor recreational activities. This legislation will ensure that whether a school is constructed or leased, it must provide open-air schoolhouse playgrounds and when that is not possible, it must provide for adequate alternatives. Klein also will monitor efforts by the State Education Department and the New York City Department of Education to address other report recommendations.
In response to rising cable TV prices, the Oversight Committee conducted a survey in 2003 of cable prices throughout New York State. The survey included the three major cable companies serving the vast majority of cable customers in New York. New York City, suburban and upstate jurisdictions were included in the survey.
The survey results were published in a report entitled Time to Change the Channel: Cable Television Prices in New York State, which was released in March 2003. The report set forth specific prices for each of the cable companies, and compared their rates and programming offerings in different parts of the State.
This survey supports consumer groups’ argument that Congress should allow states to regulate cable prices.
Legislation will be introduced in 2004 based on the report’s recommendations to require that cable companies supply rate and programming information in plain language and that such information should specify consumer premium and pay-per-view options and rates.
The Oversight Committee has spent years investigating and uncovering serious problems with procurement practices in New York State. Most notable is the CONNECTIONS debacle which spurred the Committee’s broader involvement in procurement law reform and to ensure more accountability in purchasing practices. Efforts to improve, recommend and create effective new laws addressing this important and crucial portion of the State’s economy were continued in 2003.
information about any cost overruns and delays.
Current law requires that agencies and authorities award contracts only to "responsible bidders." The Responsible Bidder Database that would be established by Assembly bill A.3730 would provide contracting agencies with relevant information about a bidder’s background, history of contract performance and compliance with laws. Modeled on NYC’s law which established the City’s successful "Vendex" database, it will assist State agencies and authorities in making their responsibility determinations. The Vendex acronym stands for Vendor Information Exchange System.
Individual agencies and authorities each collect bidder background and history information. Currently, there is no functioning system for storing and exchanging the information among all of the agencies and authorities. They do not benefit from the knowledge of another agency’s good or bad experience. Sound management practice requires that agencies and authorities have a coherent system for regularly exchanging accurate information. The lack of information can have costly consequences.
Data would be fed into a centralized location from a number of sources: self-reported information from bidders; agencies’ investigations of bidders’ responsibility; and agencies’ reports of contractor performance on earlier contracts. Maintained by the State Comptroller, who now maintains a database of all State contracts, agencies would be able to tap into the database and consider the information when making their responsibility determinations.
This new State database will be allowed to exchange information with the City’s Vendex system. The end result will be more information in the hands of the State and the City, helping both carry out their lawful responsibilities. This legislation was passed by the Assembly on June 20, 2003.
A.4651:	This bill would limit abuses of the "emergency" exception to bidding rules.
The Oversight Committee found that agencies sometimes invoke the emergency exception when the emergency is caused by the agency’s own making. This bill would clarify that an "emergency" exception to normal competitive bidding rules for State agencies only applies in truly exigent circumstances, as declared by the Governor. This legislation was reported by the Ways and Means Committee on 6/3/03.
A.4652:	This bill would allow a losing bidder to appeal the legality of a contract award. The National Association of State Purchasing Officials (NASPO) recommends a statute that requires a regulatory scheme for allowing bid protests. The Comptroller currently has an informal system whereby a bidder’s complaints will be considered in the course of the Comptroller’s review of a contract. A few State agencies have similar sorts of informal in-house practices. These informal practices lack established procedural and substantive rules. The lack of a clear, coherent bid protest mechanism undermines the credibility of the entire procurement system. This bill would require the Comptroller to promulgate the appropriate regulations, ancillary to his existing contract review and approval responsibilities. This legislation was reported by the Ways and Means Committee to the floor.
A.4736:	This bill would require State agencies to use greater specificity in planning how to judge proposals for contracts and requests for proposals (RFP). The Committee found that agencies sometimes establish only vague specifications and methods for rating proposals before requesting proposals. This sometimes allows an agency to manipulate specifications and rating schemes after proposals are received, in order to favor one proposer over another. This is contrary to the procurement law’s guiding principles of transparency, objectivity and fairness found in State Finance Law §163 (2) (b). This bill would require greater particularity in planning for and requesting RFPs which will enable proposers to better understand the State’s needs, thereby allowing them to make better proposals. This legislation was reported by the Ways and Means Committee to the floor.
A.4532:	This bill enacts the "Municipal Competitive Bidding Enforcement Act."
The purpose of the competitive bidding law is "to assure the prudent and economical use of public moneys for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the State and to facilitate the acquisition of facilities and commodities of maximum quality at the lowest possible cost." Currently, there is no effective means of ensuring that local governments comply with the law that is designed to keep the cost of public contracts as low as reasonably possible. The absence of an enforcement mechanism is a key element in how the competitive bidding law can be ignored. This legislation will help political subdivisions (which includes school districts, BOCES, and municipal and district corporations) follow the law by providing opinions on the legality of procurement actions and information of proper bid specifications. Secondly, the bill creates an enforcement mechanism that holds a political subdivision accountable when it ignores warnings of illegal conduct. The cornerstone of the bill (GML §103-g) is a new procedure that allows a taxpayer or frustrated bidder to obtain the Comptroller’s opinion on the legality of a proposed procurement action. If the political subdivision chooses to ignore the Comptroller’s opinion, the Attorney General can sue to enjoin the procurement action and secondly, the frustrated bidder may sue for damages of three times the amount of its lost profits. This legislation was referred to the Local Governments Committee on 2/19/03.
Serious deficiencies relating to the Department of Health’s oversight of adult home operations, resident safety and supervision, medication management, medical care, adult home financing, and the character, competence and training of adult home personnel.
Throughout 2003, the Oversight Committee worked with the Assembly Committees on Health, Mental Health and Aging investigating ways to reinvest the State’s resources into expanded community based services, enriched housing programs for the chronically mentally ill, and to ensure the appropriateness and quality of care. Early in the year, the Assembly Committees met with the Attorney General’s office regarding enforcement activities concerning problems in adult homes.
In June of 2003, the Assembly passed A.8689, a long-range reform effort aimed at the creation of a comprehensive system of community-based mental health care, intended to address the abuse and neglect of New York’s most vulnerable populations. Through a series of public hearings into the health, safety and welfare of residents in adult homes, the Legislature found that mentally ill individuals are being warehoused in adult homes due to a lack of housing options. This bill strengthens the existing authority granted to the Governor’s agencies to regulate adult homes through inspection teams that will inspect and assess the appropriateness of the services provided to residents. In addition, the bill makes immediate changes to the law to give the Attorney General increased prosecutorial powers in cases related to adult homes, financed from increased fines collected from facilities giving unsatisfactory care to residents. This bill also establishes a Temporary Advisory Council to examine a range of issues relevant to the reform of the adult home model of residential care.
Assemblymen Klein, Gottfried, Rivera and Englebright urged the Assembly in 2003 to continue to fund $100,000 for the Coalition of the Institutionalized Aged and Disabled (CIAD) program. CIAD provides essential non-legal advocacy and organizing assistance to adult home residents. The Assembly also was able to restore $4,000,000 for the adult care facility Quality Incentive Payment Program.
The Committee will continue to work with the Assembly Health, Aging and Mental Health Committees to seek reform and improvement in the administration of adult home institutions.
In March 2003, Assemblyman Klein released the first in a series of updates detailing his work as Chair of the New York State Assembly Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee. The "Public Eye" is intended to keep the public informed of Oversight Committee investigations and to track remedial actions that are taken to address problems identified. The Committee’s mission is to review the implementation and the adequacy of laws and programs to ensure compliance by the public and government agencies. Through its monitoring and investigative activities, the Committee seeks to determine whether programs are operating as required and whether allocated funds are spent in accordance with legislative intent. Five "Public Eyes" were released in 2003. Following are summaries of The Public Eye: Update on Committee Investigations released during 2003.
Public Eye #1: Released in March 2003.
This first "Public Eye" introduced its mission, which included both reports on Committee activities, and inviting public input and suggestions on potential investigations. Public Eye #1 discussed the State’s compliance with Assembly bill A.10155, which required water suppliers statewide to update their emergency planning to include an analysis of the threat of terrorism. This bill became Chapter 405 of the Laws of 2002 on August 13, 2002. This major law was significant for two reasons. First, it helped prepare local water suppliers and the State for the possibility of a terrorist attack against the State’s water supplies. Second, this was the only major piece of anti-terrorism legislation to pass both houses and be signed into law in 2002. The Committee’s investigation detailed deficiencies in statewide water supply emergency planning and security, and discovered that New York City’s water supply facilities fell short on 21 Federal and State security recommendations.
Public Eye #2: Released in May 2003.
This second update discussed how the Governor’s Office for Technology’s legally required inventory of State assets, due in October, 2002, was almost a year late. Lacking an inventory of computer assets puts the State at risk of losing billions of dollars each fiscal year. Klein requested full compliance with the Reporting law which will provide the Legislature with a complete accounting of the State’s information technology costs - existing and proposed. In addition, Chairman Klein and twenty three of his Assembly colleagues introduced Assembly bill A. 6977, which would ensure that the Legislature is provided with detailed information about State contract costs.
Public Eye #3: Released in August 2003.
This third update announces the June release of For the Sake of Security, an Oversight Committee Report detailing the Committee’s investigation of the State’s computer security. This Klein Report exposed many reasons why computer safety is at risk to hacking, misplaced equipment, outdated software, and the lack of required Information Security Officers. Updates on the status of the missing Inventory of Computer Assets report from the State’s Office for Technology were provided. A July 30, 2003 letter from Klein to OFT asks, for a third time, for the overdue Inventory Report. The Klein Report also recommends that victims of a security breach should be notified in a timely manner and legislation should be developed to ensure this protection.
Public Eye #4: Released in September 2003.
This fourth update discussed the introduction of a two-bill package that would enhance the information detailed in the State budget regarding information technology contracts (A.6977); and would help to ensure that all agencies benefit from shared information when making bidder decisions for State contracts (A.3730). The Assembly unanimously passed these budget reform proposals in June 2003.
Public Eye #5: Released in November, 2003.
This fifth update discussed the release of the Oversight Committee’s Report No Room in the Playground, which revealed that adequate outdoor recreational space was unavailable to many of New York City’s elementary school children. The Report cited a 1947 law that states "It shall be unlawful for a schoolhouse to be constructed in the City of New York without an open air playground..." NYC provides a standard for outdoor playground space, but it does not effectively monitor schools’ compliance with its standard. Assemblyman Klein will be introducing legislation to ensure that alternative outdoor space is provided to school children when school playgrounds are used for portable classrooms or parking lots.
Many of our Committee’s investigations resulted in legislative action - sometimes to clarify further what is already provided in law, and sometimes to address an absence of policy discovered during an investigation.
In the Projects section of Oversight’s 2003 Annual Report, a number of these legislative proposals have been discussed in detail. This section of the Annual Report provides a brief description of many of Oversight’s legislative initiatives. For a more detailed description of issues relating to some of these bills, please see the body of this report.
A.4385: NYS Internet Privacy Law: Creates privacy rules which could be enforced against web site operators who hold out to the public that they offer privacy protection.
An Act to amend the general business law, in relation to protecting the privacy of internet users.
A.4735: To establish a temporary State commission on personal privacy to study personal privacy and to make recommendations as to how privacy might be better protected.
An Act in relation to creating a temporary State commission on personal privacy to examine and assess the privacy of individuals in the State of New York and to make recommendations relative to the protection thereof; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof.
A.9184: Hacker Disclosure Bill: Provides notice when personal information has been obtained by a computer hack.
An Act to amend the State technology law and the general business law, in relation to notifying persons when an unauthorized person has acquired certain vulnerable personal information from a computerized information system.
A.3730: Responsible Bidders Database Act.
An Act to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing a responsible bidders database in the office of the state comptroller.
June 20, 2003: Passed Assembly. Delivered to Senate. Referred to Senate Rules.
A.4532: Municipal Competitive Bidding Enforcement Act.
An Act to amend the general municipal law and the state finance law, in relation to ensuring compliance with the competitive bidding law. To ensure that local governments and their taxpayers receive the cost savings benefits of competitive bidding in local government purchasing.
A.4651: This bill would limit abuses of the "emergency" exception to bidding rules.
An Act to amend the state finance law, in relation to the definition of "emergency" in the procurement process. This bill would clarify that the emergency exception to normal competitive bidding rules for State agencies only applies in truly exigent circumstances.
A.4652:	This bill would allow a losing bidder to appeal the legality of a contract.
An Act to amend the state finance law, in relation to providing for a challenge to a procurement award.
A.4736: Requires State agencies to use greater specificity when judging proposals.
An Act to amend the state finance law, in relation to specifying the approach to be used for combining technical and financial evaluation results in the competitive procurement process and setting forth information with particularity.
An Act to amend the State Finance Law, in relation to limiting the influence of lobbyists on New York State agency purchasing. This bill also requires agencies to appoint a Procurement Integrity Officer (PIO).
April 16, 2003: Amended and recommitted to Governmental Operations.
A.6977: Budgeting for Information Technology.
A.8689: To ensure that NYS Adult Home residents receive appropriate care and services according to their individualized needs.
June 19, 2003: Passed Assembly. Delivered to Senate. Referred to Senate Rules.
An Act to amend the social services law, in relation to foster home decertification, application for recertification, authorization for non-renewal, notice of removal of a child, and other required notices. This bill addresses an important issue raised during extensive hearings on the State’s foster care system, which were conducted by the Assembly Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation, in conjunction with the Assembly Committee on Children and Families.
A.6450: New York Children’s Product Safety Act: Prohibits the sale of certain products unsafe for children and the use thereof in daycare facilities.
A.4531: Requires a deferred installment plan to small business for telephone service installation, initiation and non-recurring maintenance charges.
An Act to amend the public service law, in relation to deferred payment of certain charges to small business customers. The primary purpose of this legislation is to offer to small businesses a plan for deferred payment of charges stemming from the installation or initiation of service of a telephone line, or charges resulting from any nonrecurring maintenance service charge with respect to the telephone line or equipment.
March 24, 2003: Passed Assembly. Delivered to Senate. Referred to Senate Energy and Telecommunications.
A.4734: Paperwork Reduction Bill would eliminate unnecessary reporting requirements, modify the frequency of other reports and tighten up and strengthen other reporting requirements where necessary.
An Act to amend the NYS printing and public documents law, in relation to the submission and content of reports.
June 17, 2003: Passed Assembly. Delivered to Senate. Referred to Senate Finance.
Water Supply Emergency Plans:	Water suppliers are now mandated to take into account possible terrorist attacks when updating their emergency plans. The Committee will continue to monitor local government’s efforts to update their public water suppliers’ emergency plans. The Committee will continue to analyze that data and report its findings.
New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP): The DEP Police Force has jurisdiction over areas located within New York City. The Committee will continue to monitor DEP’s enhanced protection of in-City water supply locations.
Cable Television: Following the March 2003 release of Time to Change the Channel: Cable Television Prices in New York State, the Committee will introduce legislation in 2004 to protect and assist Cable TV customers. The legislation will be based on the report’s recommendations to require that cable companies supply rate and programming information in plain language and that such information should specify consumer premium and pay-per-view options and rates.
Procurement: The Committee will continue to pursue passage of legislation intended to provide accountability in State agency purchasing, information technology, bidding and contracting determinations.
Cyber Security: Following the June 2003 report For the Sake of Security, the Committee will track the report’s recommendations that the State’s information technology resources be inventoried, updated and made more secure. In addition, legislation to protect personal privacy against any breach of cyber security will be pursued.
Adult Homes: The Committee will continue to investigate ways to reinvest the State’s resources into expanded community based services, enriched housing programs for the chronically mentally ill, and to ensure the appropriateness and quality of care for all seniors. The Committee will continue to work with the Assembly Health, Aging and Mental Health Committees to seek reform and improvement in the administration of adult home institutions.
Children: Following the release of the September 2003 report No Room In The Playground, the Committee will continue to monitor any changes to New York City playground space and assist in providing adequate alternatives when necessary. Legislation will be introduced in 2004 to restrict the sale, lease or transfer of existing outdoor school playgrounds. Chairman Klein will continue to push for passage of Assembly bill A.6450, the New York Children’s Product Safety Act. This legislation aims to protect children in day care facilities from unsafe and recalled products and to ensure that day care providers do not use products that have been recalled by their manufacturers.
The Public Eye: Update on Committee Investigations: The Oversight Committee will continue to release updates that detail its work reviewing the implementation and adequacy of laws and programs to ensure compliance by the public and government agencies.
The Oversight Committee joined with the Assembly Committees on Health, Mental Health and Aging to investigate the poor conditions and inappropriate health care provided to residents of adult homes. An in-depth investigation included meetings with the State Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled, the State agency responsible for investigating complaints regarding quality of care, advocates and State agency officials; detailed information requests to the Departments of Health and Mental Health; and public hearings. Many of these investigative activities, along with proposed reform legislation, were reflected in this report from all four Committee Chairs.
Too Much, Too Little, Too Late details the Committees’ findings related to: problems with the CONNECTIONS system and their impacts on children and families; procurement issues; State agency management and administration of the CONNECTIONS contracts; and costs and fiscal impacts. The report also presents administrative, budget, and legislative recommendations. It is hoped that these recommendations will help get the project back on track, strengthen legislative oversight of the project and related costs, and ensure that similar problems do not recur with future large information technology projects. The report won the 2001 Notable Documents Award, in the category of Public Policy, from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The Committee Chairmen initiated the investigation in response to the magnitude of environmental law violations attributed to State agencies, public authorities and public benefit corporations. The violations were listed in DEC’s first annual audit, released in August 1989. The audit, required by Chapter 595 of the Laws of 1988, listed 440 environmental violations at 267 State agency facilities. While most of the agencies’ violations were for failure to obtain or renew permits or registrations, other included raw sewage released into drinking water above a sole source aquifer.
The PSC did order an investigation of NYTEL’s purchases from NYNEX subsidiaries. After many years of litigation and procedural wrangling, the presiding Administrative Law Judge in 1996 recommended that NYNEX refund $300 million to consumers. In 1997, the PSC ultimately ordered a refund in the amount of $83 million to compensate consumers for NYNEX’s inflated prices.
Released by the Assembly Oversight and Governmental Operations Committees, Structural defects detail numerous problems with the enforcement and oversight of the Uniform Fire and Building Code Act by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) and the Department of State (DOS).
This report, issued by the Oversight and Codes Committees, is based on an extensive examination of the Target Crime Initiative program (TCI), a comprehensive anti-crime package funded by the State to aid localities for the special handling of serious and/or repeat felony offenders. As of late 1989, the State had spent over $618 million on these programs, including TCI.
This report documents the Oversight and Housing Committee examination of the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal’s (DHCR) administration of rent stabilization and rent control laws. When DHCR assumed responsibility for administration of the system in 1983, it inherited a backlog of 104,000 cases, and some statutory changes created an additional backlog.
There were no public hearings in 2003.
The Speaker and Committee Chairs sought to learn: how much money had been pledged and received; how such contributions are restricted and how they can be used; what needs will be met by federal and State funds and charitable organizations; what unmet needs continue to exist in the community; to what extent are charities coordinating their efforts; how is eligibility for assistance and the amounts of awards determined; will charitable gifts affect eligibility for State and federal benefits and vice versa; how should any leftover money be used; to what extent have there been fraudulent charitable solicitations related to September 11; and what steps should be taken to protect the public and legitimate charities from abuse?
The Committee held joint public hearings on the CONNECTIONS system in New York City on May 12, 2000 and in Albany on May 23, 2000 with the Assembly Children and Families and Governmental Operations Committees. During the course of the hearings the Committees found that: computer equipment was delivered before a contract was signed; the Governor’s office had direct involvement over the selection of contractors for the project; the hardware contract was amended 78 times after the contract was signed; providers have been frustrated by CONNECTIONS, referred to as "a costly boondoggle" by one provider; the Office of Children and Family Services had not properly overseen the development of the project; CONNECTIONS does not work as intended; and, children were potentially at risk because the system has been unable to accurately search for an alleged abuser’s prior history of abuse.
The Committee conducted a joint hearing on how changes in technology, are reducing the amount of privacy that people have. Among those testifying were individuals whose privacy had been invaded, private investigators, privacy experts, public interest and consumer groups, the N.Y.S. Committee on Open Government, and representatives of the credit reporting, telecommunications, and information broker industries. The hearing was conducted jointly with the Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection and with the Assembly Commission on Science and Technology.
Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee Chairman Richard Brodsky held a public hearing in October of 1992 in Tarrytown to explore the Thruway Authority’s 1986 dumping of hazardous waste at a site under the Tappan Zee Bridge in Westchester County. The questioning focused on a number of issues relating to the site, including the TA’s failure to test the area as agreed to with State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in 1988. DEC was also questioned on its failure to issue two statutorily required State agency environmental audit reports due July 1, 1991 and September 1, 1992, respectively.
The Chairmen of the Committees on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation and Higher Education held this hearing to examine the effects of chapters 680 and 681 of the laws of 1986 which revised standards for the State’s private proprietary schools. More specifically, Chairmen Brodsky and Sullivan wanted to examine various issues, including the financial and recruiting practices and the educational quality of proprietary schools.

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