Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 52, December 24, 2024
WHEREAS, public authorities have made valuable
contributions to New York State by financing, constructing and operating
capital improvements that benefit the public and by working with public and
private sector partners to spur economic development and meet public
needs;
WHEREAS, New Yorkers support the activities of public
authorities in areas such as transportation, education, economic development,
health care, energy, housing and the environment through rates, tolls, fares,
and user fees;
WHEREAS, building on sweeping reforms, innovations and
improvements that have been made since 1995 to enhance services for New Yorkers
and increase the effectiveness, accountability and openness of state government
and public authorities, I established the Public Authority Governance Advisory
Committee last year to work with the State's public authorities to improve
oversight, accountability and transparency;
WHEREAS, while the Public Authority Governance Advisory
Committee, chaired by renowned corporate governance expert Ira Millstein, has
made tremendous progress in working with the State's public authorities to
improve oversight and promote accountability and openness, more can be done in
this area; and
WHEREAS, while state law has established hundreds of public
authorities, there has been no systematic review by the State to determine
whether there is duplication or the unnecessary provision of services;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, George E. Pataki, Governor of the State
of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
Laws of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows:
I. DEFINITIONS
1. "Public authority" shall mean:
(a) any public authority, public benefit
corporation or commission created by or existing pursuant to the Public
Authorities Law;
(b) a public
authority or public benefit corporation, at least one of whose members is
appointed by the Governor or who serves as a member by virtue of holding a
civil office of the State;
(c) a
local industrial development agency or other local public benefit corporation;
or
(d) a subsidiary or affiliate of
such a public authority.
2. "Public authority board" shall mean the
governing body of a public authority.
II. NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION ON PUBLIC
AUTHORITY REFORM
1. There is hereby
established the New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform
("Commission"), which shall consist of thirteen members appointed by the
Governor, including:
(i) one member who shall
be appointed upon the recommendation of the Temporary President of the Senate;
(ii) one member who shall be
appointed upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the Assembly;
(iii) one member who shall be appointed upon
the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate;
(iv) one member who shall be appointed upon
the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Assembly;
(v) one member who shall be appointed upon
the recommendation of the State Comptroller; and
(vi) one member who shall be appointed upon
the recommendation of the Attorney General. The members of the Commission shall
have experience and expertise in the fields of public administration,
management, finance or other relevant disciplines. No member shall be a public
officer or employee. The Governor shall designate the Chair from among the
members.
2. A majority
of the members on the Commission shall constitute a quorum and a majority of
the members present shall be necessary to approve any action of the
Commission.
3. The members of the
Commission shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be
allowed their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of
their duties pursuant to this Order.
4. The Chair shall retain, and at his or her
pleasure, remove an Executive Director and such other personnel as he or she
may deem necessary for the performance of the Commission's duties pursuant to
this Order and shall fix their compensation within amounts made available
therefor. The Chair may contract with outside experts and organizations as he
or she may deem necessary, within amounts made available therefor.
III. FUNCTIONS, POWERS AND DUTIES
OF THE COMMISSION
1. General Provisions. The
Commission shall have the power to study, review and evaluate the operations
and practices of public authorities and advise and assist public authority
boards in developing and adopting model governance principles to strengthen
external oversight, management accountability, internal operations and public
disclosure practices.
2.
Elimination, dissolution, consolidation or merger of public authorities. The
Commission shall be authorized to review the statutory intent, public purpose
and mission of any public authority and recommend and report to the Governor
and the Legislature regarding:
(a) the
elimination or dissolution of any public authority;
(b) the discontinuance of any program,
operation or activity of any public authority;
(c) the consolidation or merger of one or
more public authorities;
(d) the
realignment of any function of any public authority by transferring such
function to a State agency or other public authority; and
(e) the modification of the purpose and
mission of any public authority.
3. Governance. The Commission shall develop
model principles for the effective governance of public authorities, which
shall, at a minimum, address:
(a) formal
training of public authority board members and senior management on their
legal, fiduciary, ethical and personal responsibilities;
(b) the separation of oversight and executive
functions;
(c) guidelines governing
the independence of public authority board members;
(d) the organization and structure of the
public authority board and its committees, including the establishment of audit
and management committees;
(e)
methods of attracting highly qualified individuals to serve on public authority
boards;
(f) the establishment of
codes of conduct governing honest and ethical conduct by public authority
directors, officers and employees;
(g) policies regarding the procurement of
goods and services, the acquisition of real property and the disposition of
real and personal property; and
(h) the internal control, management and
operational roles of public authority board members and executive
staff.
4. Salary and
compensation for public authority management. The Commission shall review the
salary and other compensation provided to senior managers of authorities, and
the policies and procedures by which the authority determines and modifies the
salary and compensation of such managers. The Commission shall also review the
salary and other compensation, if any, provided to members of authority boards,
and the policies and procedures by which the authority determines and modifies
the salary and compensation of such managers. In carrying out these
responsibilities, the Commission shall consider the level of salary and other
compensation offered in comparable positions.
5. Public disclosure of financial
information. The Commission shall recommend policies governing the process by
which public authorities are to make financial information public, including
recommendations for adoption of a standard reporting format and level of detail
for disclosing such information. The Commission may also recommend policies
governing the circumstances under which the chairpersons and members of public
authority boards, as well as the chief executive officers and chief financial
officers of public authorities, must attest to the accuracy and completeness of
such information and reports.
6.
Audit requirements. The Commission shall recommend policies governing the
responsibilities and reporting practices of internal auditors at public
authorities, which may include requiring internal auditors to direct
authority-wide internal audit functions and report directly to the audit
committee. In addition, the Commission shall develop guidelines governing the
conduct of annual independent financial audits of public authorities, including
the requirements for independence of such auditors and responsibilities of the
independent auditor for testing the adequacy on a public authority's internal
control structure. The Commission may also provide guidance on the feasibility
of requiring public authorities to establish audit committees, the structure
and composition of such a committee and its relationship with the independent
auditor.
7. Compliance with model
governance principles. The Commission is authorized to review the operations
and practices of public authorities and monitor the compliance of public
authorities with established principles of model governance.
8. Reports. The Commission shall issue a
final report to the Governor and the Legislature on its findings and
recommendations as soon as practicable and may issue interim or supplemental
reports in its discretion. In issuing its reports, the Commission shall
consider, and may recommend, legislation to effectuate its findings or
recommendations.
9. Assistance from
other state entities. The Commission may request and shall receive from any
public authority or department, division, board, bureau, commission or agency
of the state or any political subdivision thereof such assistance, data and
cooperation as is necessary to enable the Commission to carry out the powers
and duties described herein.
Signed: George E. PatakiDated: February 3, 2005
[FN*] [Revoked by Executive Order No. 5 (Eliot Spitzer),
infra.]
[Revoked by Executive Order No. 9 (David A. Paterson),
infra.]
[Revoked by Executive Order No. 2 (Andrew M. Cuomo),
infra.]