A Brief Examination of the New York State 2018 Legislative Session

Published: August 17, 2018

ASSEMBLY, NEW YORK STATE (NEW YORK)CybersecurityGeneral Government ServicesInformation TechnologyInformation TechnologyInnovationNEW YORKProfessional ServicesSENATE, NEW YORK STATE (NEW YORK)

A review of some relevant legislation from the New York State Legislature's 2018 Legislative Session

Following on the research on Virginia’s and California’s state legislation, Deltek’s SLED research team looked at relevant legislation out of the 2018 session for the state of New York.

Introduction

The New York State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the 150 seat Assembly and the Senate, which varies in number in seats. The New York Legislature was in session in 2018 from January 3 through June 20.

Notable Legislation

In the 2018 legislative session, New York introduced nearly 20,000 pieces of legislation. Of these 10,879 bills were introduced in the Assembly, while 9,046 were introduced in the Senate. The Assembly chaptered 697 bills in to new law, with the Senate chaptering 682.

With such a large number of pieces of legislation introduced, topics covered a broad range, including numerous bills related to state public procurement. One example, A08508, introduced changes to the New York City charter relating to minority and women-owned business enterprises. The bill, which was chaptered into law, provides that agencies may make procurements of goods and services for amounts up to $150,000 from minority or women-owned businesses without a formal competitive process.

Additionally, various Bills, such as A09500, A09503, and A09504, were all passed, which will establish legislation necessary for implementing various state budgets. A09509 was passed, which enacts into law major components of legislation necessary to implement the state fiscal plan for 2019.

One innovation that came about through Bill A01713 is the introduction of a state information technology innovation center to develop and demonstrate technology solutions with potential benefit to the state and its citizens. This was also chaptered into law, and includes provisions for vendor participation in the iCenter, which will be a public process.

The was an effort made to introduce a new “Open Data Law,” which would define data, provide for an open data website, establish a data working group, and include requirements for publishing state data. This bill, A03401, was referred to the governmental operations committee and no further actions have been taken, but it is reflective of a growing state interest in utilizing and sharing data.

There was also a push for the creation of a New York State cyber security initiative and advisor board. Bill A03448, which remains in committee, would create a cyber security initiative in the state, which would, among other things, establish a partnership program between the state and private sector businesses, academia, and owners of critical infrastructure to develop, improve, and implement new cyber security standards.

This examination of these few of the large amount of legislation in the 2018 legislative session provides some insight into the New York’s legislative agenda that will bring about some changes to government procurement. Some bills and new laws will also shape technology moving forward and show that New York is following some notable trends in state government information technology, such as showing interest in open data and looking to improve cybersecurity.

Source: New York State Legislature