Executive

An 1896 appropriations act (Chapter 949) allocated money for the construction at Dannemora of buildings to accommodate "three hundred insane convicts," the money to be spent under the direction of the superintendent of state prisons. The next year, when continuation of construction was authorized (Laws of 1897, Chapter 395), the name specified to be used for the facility upon completion was the Dannemora State Hospital for Insane Convicts.

For the first fifty years of the State's history, local governments and private agencies were responsible for the care of New York State's mentally ill. In 1836 (Chapter 82), the legislature authorized the construction of the State's first mental health institution, the State Lunatic Asylum at Utica, which opened in 1843. By 1890, the State had opened nine additional asylums for the mentally ill. Local governments were responsible for expenses of inmates at these asylums and continued to confine the mentally ill in jails and poorhouses.

State regulation of public utilities dates from the early nineteenth century, when the legislature began including financial and service requirements in incorporation statutes. More systematic oversight began with an 1843 assembly resolution requiring railroads to submit reports to the secretary of state. Five years later (Laws of 1848, Chapter 140), the railroads were required to report instead to the state engineer and surveyor on financial affairs, equipment, and passengers and freight carried.

The State of New York Mortgage Agency was established as a public benefit corporation by Laws of 1970, Chapter 612 (as amended by Chapters 613 and 614), to "provide increased availability of residential mortgage funds." Laws of 1972, Chapter 234, further authorized SONYMA to "issue its bonds and notes for the purpose of making available funds" for student loans. The agency is administratively situated within the Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

The origins of this department can be traced to the Dutch office of surveyor general established in 1642 to survey the lands of the Province of New Netherland. The office was continued under the British colonial government and reestablished after New York became a state (Laws of 1781, Chapter 32). The surveyor general was appointed by the Council of Appointment until 1821, when the new constitution provided for election by the legislature. Surveying the public lands continued to be the principal function of the office.

In 1944, Governor Thomas E. Dewey appointed an interdepartmental committee to study the problem of juvenile delinquency. Upon the recommendation of this committee, the New York State Youth Commission, a temporary state commission comprised of a chairperson appointed by the governor and the commissioners of the departments of Correction, Education, Health, Mental Hygiene, and Social Welfare, the industrial commissioner, and the chairperson of the Board of Parole, was established in 1945 (Chapter 556).

Creation of the Department of Environmental Conservation in 1970 (Chapter 140) was preceded by over a century of State conservation activity carried out by a number of agencies. The first, a three-member Fisheries Commission, was established in 1868 (Chapter 285) to restore and protect the propagation of fish in the State's rivers, lakes, and streams.

New York State's first civil service law, enacted in 1883 (Chapter 354), provided for a merit system of competitive examinations for the appointment and promotion of State government employees. It established a Civil Service Commission, consisting of three persons appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the senate, to administer the law. In 1884 civil service provisions were extended to some local governments; municipal civil service commissions were established and supervised by the state commission.

This department's roots can be traced back to the establishment of the Dairy Commission in 1884 (Chapter 202). The commission, headed by a commissioner appointed by the governor, was empowered to regulate agriculture by inspecting dairy production and sales facilities to ensure product quality.

The Executive Department resulted from the constitutional reorganization of State government in 1925. Prior to reorganization, the executive branch of the government had grown to include nearly 200 administrative departments, boards, and commissions. Constitutional amendments in 1925 and 1927 abolished or significantly consolidated these offices and expanded the power of the executive office. In 1925 an amendment provided for the consolidation of all administrative agencies into not more than twenty State departments, including an Executive Department.