Legislative Information

January 8, 2010

New York: Governors’ Programs 2009

During every session of the New York Legislature the current governor and his staff prepare bills addressing his or her objectives to be introduced directly in the legislature by the Governor. While it is assumed that legislatures in other states have similar mechanisms, this posting is only concernd with Governor’s programs in the State of New York.

When first introduced, these program bills are only sponsored by the Governor but once they have been introduced, members of the legislature can and often do add their names as sponsors. It is my understanding that once such a bill is introduced the process by which it works its way through the legislature is similar to other legislation except that if such a bill is amended while under consideration, it is then sent back to the Governor’s office for review, further modification etc.

In conversations I have had with people in the Governor’s office it was emphasized that Governor’s Programs should not be considered identical with other legislation introduced directly by individuall or groups of legislators and that Budget programs are separate from the Governor’s Program being discussed here. During those conversations the following book was recemmended as an excellent source for further information on this topic:

January 8, 2010

New York Legislature: Chapter Law List for 2009

by David Badertscher

A List of New York State Chapter Laws Signed in 2009. Arranged in decending order. Includes Chapter Numbers, Bill Numbers and Titles
To retrieve the text of any of the New York Chapter laws listed below, go to http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cgi

507 S66007 KLEIN — Relates to home mortgage loans, the crime of mortgage fraud, and appropriations to the NYS housing trust fund corporation

506 A40012 Rules (Brodsky) — Creates the authorities budget office; repealer

505 A2209C Brodsky — Creates an independent authority budget office; repealer

504 A40026 Rules (Silver) — Provides retirement benefits for new entrants to certain public retirement systems

503 A40023 Budget — Implements savings adjustments to the state fiscal plan

502 A40022 Budget — Amends various provisions of chapters of the laws 2009 making appropriations for the support of government

501 A40021 Budget — Authorizes commissioner of taxation and finance to administer accounts receivable discount program with respect to certain overdue tax liabilities

500 A40011 Rules (Destito) — Authorizes term appointments without examination for certain information technology positions

499 S66009 BRESLIN — Relates to the licensure of life settlement brokers; creates certain crimes relating to life settlement fraud; relates to premium finance agreement; repealer

498 S66006 BRESLIN — Establishes a special enrollment period for employees and members with expired health coverage who wish to utilize state continuation benefits
497 S66004A THOMPSON — Authorizes municipalities to create a municipal sustainable energy loan program

496 A40008 Rules (Weisenberg) — Relates to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs with a child passenger

495 S66005 VALESKY — Relates to eligibility of certain felony offenders for parole and medical parole

494 S66002 STEWART-COUSINS — Enacts into law major components of legislation necessary for the efficient operation of local governments; repealer

493 A8924 Hoyt — Establishes the crime of aggravated interference with health care services in the first and second degrees

492 A7779 Rosenthal — Relates to the duties of the municipal police training council

491 A5643 Farrell — Raises minimum salary of each of the county clerks of the counties comprising the city of New York to that of supreme court justices instead of civil court judges Continue reading

January 6, 2010

User Driven Enhancements to THOMAS Launched on its Fifteenth Birthday

by David Badertscher

THOMAS was launched on January 5, 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress. The leadership of the 104th Congress directed the Library of Congress to make federal legislative information freely available to the public. Since that time THOMAS has expanded the scope of its offerings to include many features and content including those listed below.:

Bills, Resolutions Activity in Congress Congressional Record Schedules, Calendars Committee Information Presidential Nominations

Now, fifteen years later in response to user feedback and in celebration of its fifteenth anniversary, THOMAS has been updated for the second session of the 111th Congress.

December 9, 2009

U.S. Senate Floor Schedule 2010

by David Badertscher

The following is the announced U.S. Senate floor schedule for 2010:

Jan. 5 – Second session convenes in a pro forma session

Jan. 19 – Senate reconvenes for legislative business

November 24, 2009

The Continuing Quest for Health Care Reform in the U.S.

by David Badertscher

Updated to November 25, 2009

Over the past months we have posted a variety of items related to the quest for health care reform in the United States. See our last posting at “Health Care Update as of the Beginning of October 2009. The quest continues. During the last month the House of Representatives passed HR 3962(Affordable Health Care for America Act) on November 7 and the Senate has at least agreed to begin debate on their bill HR3590 (Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act) on November 21.. Given the historical record of attempts at health care reform these are remarkable achievements but we still do not know if the end is in sight.

Rather than engage in extended discussion on this posting we will concentrate identifying selected documents related to the two bills mentioned above and close by mentioning a few recent news articles of interest. First the documents:

October 6, 2009

Health Care Update as of the Beginning of October 2009

by David Badertscher

Through various means, both web based and print, we are monitoring as best we can discussions related to the ongoing health care discussions. Below is an edited and excerpted version of some information we received recently from GalleryWatch in Washington, DC. We would like to share it with you. This updates our earlier posting on the Criminal Law Library Blog

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You might have noticed over the past little while that the Senate Finance Committee has been marking up a bill to reform our health care system.( see links following this discussion to the October 1 version of the bill from the Finance Committee and to a list dated October 5, 2009 of technical corrections to that bill).

September 16, 2009

Baucus Health Care Proposal: America’s Healthy Future Act 0f 2009

by David Badertscher

Today Sept. 16, 2009, Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, released the first draft of the committee’s long awaited proposed legislation to overhaul the country’s health care system. The proposal is the result of more than a year of preparation and more than three months of intense negotiations between a small group of Democrats and Republicans led by Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, the chairman of the Finance Committee.

The following are a few highlights of interest included in this 223 page proposal:

The bill includes a slimmed down price-tag of $856 billion over 10 years. Earlier versions of the health care legislation had come in costing $1 trillion or more

September 2, 2009

What’s Happening in Your State Related to Legislation Regarding the Use of Restraints on Pregnant Women

by David Badertscher

According to the Editors of The Crime Report, the movement to ban shackling pregnant prisoners is gaining momentum. On August 26, 2009, Governor David Paterson of New York signed a bill (now NY Chapter 411 2009) banning the practice for all but the most unruly inmates. What is happening in your state?

Only six states-California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Texas and Vermont-have legislation regulating the use of restraints on pregnant women. Women detained in 44 states, the District of Columbia and the Federal Bureau of Prisons lack such legislative protection. Some state departments of corrections did not provide details on what type of restraints may be utilized during labor, nor did they provide their policy.

(Research provided by Amnesty International and The Rebecca Project for Human Rights.)

June 22, 2009

Wyoming Legislature Passes Information Transparency in Government Act

by David Badertscher

In its 2009 session, the Wyoming Legislature passed the Transparency in Government Act making information as to how state funds are spent readily accessible to the public. The Act requires the creation of a public finance website by January 1, 2010. The website will provide free access to financial reports, financial audits, budgets or other financial documents that are used to allocate, appropriate, spend and account for government funds. The Act also directs that an archive of all information posted will be maintained.

From e-mail by Kathy Carlson, Wyoming State Law Librarian.

April 28, 2009

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania Announces Switch to Democratic Party

by David Badertscher

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a Republican since 1966, said on Tuesday April 28 that he will switch to the Decmocratic Party and will run as a Democrat in 2010, thus presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters.

Here is a link to Senator Specter’s statement made earlier today 4-28-09