Important legislation still in play in Albany


By SHERRY HALBROOK Now the state budget has been


settled, attention has shifted in the Legislature to other bills including some that could affect PEF members, and the union is honing in on the most significant of these.


Contracting out No bill is more familiar or


important to PEF than its last remaining Go Public legislation that would force state agencies to stop and consider whether it’s more cost- effective to use state employees or private consultants for a job before they decide to contract it out. PEF persuaded Gov. David


Paterson to issue an executive order requiring agencies to do this. However, compliance was spotty at best. So, the union went to lawmakers and began pushing to make the requirement state law. That bill is A5128A/S3093 and


was introduced by two Rochester legislators, Sen. Joseph Robach, a Republican, and Assembly Member Harry Bronson, a Democrat. It provides that an agency may not enter into a contract for consultant services likely to cost more than $500,000 in a 12-month period, unless the agency has conducted a review to determine if state employees could do the same thing adequately for equal or lower cost. The bill provides for reasonable exceptions, such as when the required services are needed right away or will be needed only briefly. PEF sent a memo of support to all


of the state legislators saying, “Each year the state wastes hundreds of millions of dollars on costly consultants when state employees could provide the same services at an equivalent or better quality for comparable or lower cost. Adoption of this bill would help protect the public interest and would provide much needed scrutiny of the way contracting decisions are made.”


Workplace safety Another very important bill


involves a safety issue that would directly affect patient care and PEF’s nurses, some of whom will visit legislators in Albany May 22 to


www.pef.org


advocate for it. Assembly Member Rory Lancman,


a Queens Democrat, and Sen. George Maziarz, a Lockport Republican, have introduced bill A1370B/S2470B to improve the safe handling of patients in health care facilities. Lifting was the fourth highest


cause of workers’ comp injuries for state employees in 2010-11, and previously it was the third highest cause. Manually lifting patients can


to reach into the shadow agencies that conduct much of the state’s business and incur much of its debt. That’s why PEF is strongly


supporting bill A7789E/S5797A that would expand FOIL’s authority to cover entities created by state agencies, such as the state University of New York Research Foundation. The bill was introduced by Assembly Member Deborah Glick, a Democrat from Manhattan, and Long Island Republican Sen. Ken LaValle. This bill would amend FOIL, which


is actually section 86 of the Public Officers Law, by expanding the definition of the term “agency” to cover certain types of corporations and foundations that are created by, controlled by or affiliated with a state agency. These entities are often incorporated as not-for-profit corporations or limited-liability corporations, but operate, in effect, as subsidiaries of state agencies. Corporations of this type often


refuse to disclose information, claiming they are not state agencies as defined in the law.


Post-layoff rights Democratic Assembly Member


injure both the patients and the persons attempting to lift them. This bill would create a task force


at the state Health Department to focus on safe-patient-handling issues, such as eliminating the hazards of manual lifting by transferring and repositioning patients with mechanical devices. The task force would develop a


statewide policy and oversee the implementation of safe-patient- handling programs in all health care facilities across the state. In addition, each facility would be required to establish a safe-patient-handling committee, that included direct-care workers, to ensure the proper use of equipment based on patient needs and risks.


Transparency All New Yorkers have a right to


know just how the state conducts their business and spends their money. The state’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) allows that transparency, but it hasn’t been able


Peter Abbate Jr. of Brooklyn and Sen. Roy McDonald, a Republican from Saratoga County, have introduced bill A9372/S6584 to extend through March 31, 2013, an exemption for laid-off state employees from restrictions on the kinds of jobs they can take. The “Revolving-Door” restrictions


in the Ethics Law were enacted to prevent state employees from unfairly exploiting their familiarity with public work and decisionmakers on public spending. The Ethics Law, which is Section


73 of the Public Officers Law, blocks state employees who retire or leave state service from taking jobs with lobbyists, vendors, consultants or other contractors that require them to appear in a professional capacity before a state agency or board. This bill would amend that law to extend the effective date of a 2009 exemption (that ended March 31, 2012) for former state officers and employees who lose their job as a result of a layoff or other reduction in force.


The Communicator May 2012—Page 13


LEGISLATIVE ACTION


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