2023 New York Laws › PBA - Public Authorities › Article 1 - Short Title › Title 2 - Authorities Budget Office › 6 - Powers and Duties of the Authorities Budget Office.

§  6.  Powers  and  duties  of  the  authorities budget office. 1. The
authorities budget office shall:
(a) conduct reviews and analysis  of  the  operations,  practices  and
reports  of  state  and  local authorities to assess compliance with the
provisions of this chapter and other applicable provisions of law;
(b) maintain a comprehensive inventory of state and local  authorities
and  subsidiaries  and  the  annual  reports  of  such  state  and local
authorities as defined in section twenty-eight hundred of this chapter;
(c) verify the existence of all authorities listed in state law;
(d) review the potential for consolidation or name change  of  certain
authorities;
(e)  assist  state  and  local  authorities  in  improving  management
practices and the procedures  by  which  the  activities  and  financial
practices of state and local authorities are disclosed to the public;
(f)  make  recommendations to the governor, the temporary president of
the senate, the speaker of the  assembly  and  the  chairs  and  ranking
minority  members  of  the  following  committees:  the  senate  finance
committee, the assembly ways and means committee, the  senate  committee
on  corporations, authorities and commissions and the assembly committee
on corporations, authorities and commissions and authority board members
concerning  opportunities  to  improve   the   performance,   reporting,
reformation, structure and oversight of state and local authorities;
(g)  provide  such  additional  information  and  analysis  as  may be
reasonably requested by the legislature and state comptroller;
(h) promulgate regulations to effectuate the purposes  of  this  title
and  title  one  of  this  article,  and  article  nine of this chapter,
relating to the statutory responsibilities  of  the  authorities  budget
office;
(i)  develop  and  issue,  after  consultation  with the office of the
attorney general, a written acknowledgement that  a  board  member  must
execute  at  the time that the member takes and subscribes their oath of
office, or within sixty days after the effective date of this  paragraph
if  the  member  has  already  taken  and  subscribed his or her oath of
office, in accordance  with  subdivision  one  of  section  twenty-eight
hundred twenty-four of this chapter;
(j) develop a comprehensive definition of public authorities including
a consolidated listing by class and name;
(k) standardize content and format of state and local authority annual
reports;
(l)  assess  individual  authorities  and based upon their ability and
resources, set a date by which changes made pursuant to this title shall
be implemented;
(m) issue recommendations to the legislature and governor  on  setting
debt  limitations  for  authorities  without  statutorily  required debt
limits;
(n) make recommendations to the legislature and governor with  respect
to  options for, and whether there should be, compensation for boards of
directors; and
(o)  review  the  potential  for  and  make  recommendations  to   the
legislature  and  governor  regarding  change  in the terms of office of
public authorities board members.
2. The authorities budget office shall have the authority to:
(a) request and receive from any state  or  local  authority,  agency,
department  or  division  of  the  state  or  political subdivision such
assistance, personnel, information, books, records, other  documentation
and cooperation as may be necessary to perform its duties;
(b) enter into cooperative agreements with other government offices to
efficiently carry out its work and not duplicate resources;
(c) receive and act upon complaints or recommendations from the public
or  other  persons  or  entities regarding any authority covered by this
title;
(d)  initiate  formal  investigations  in  response  to  complaints or
appearances of non-compliance by an authority;
(e) issue subpoenas pertaining to investigations which such office  is
authorized to conduct under this title, for the purposes of effectuating
the powers and duties of this title;
(f) publicly warn and censure authorities for non-compliance with this
title, and to establish guidelines for such actions;
(g)  recommend  to  the  entity that appointed the officer or director
suspension or dismissal of officers or directors, based  on  information
that is, or is made, available to the public under law;
(h)  report  suspected criminal activities to the attorney general and
other prosecutorial agencies;
(i) compel any authority which is deemed to be in non-compliance  with
this title and title one of this article or article nine of this chapter
to  submit  to  the  authorities budget office a detailed explanation of
such failure to comply; and
(j) commence a special proceeding in supreme court, when it  does  not
receive from a state or local authority upon request information, books,
records  or other documentation necessary to perform its duties, seeking
an order directing the production of the same.
3.  The  reports  and  non-proprietary  information  received  by  and
prepared by the authorities budget office shall be made available to the
public, to the extent practicable, through the internet.