Legislative

New York's first British colonial governors ruled the province only with the aid of a Council but with no assembly representative of the colonists. Between 1664, when King Charles II granted the conquered New Netherland territory to his brother James, Duke of York, and 1863, citizens increasingly called for the establishment of a general assembly. In 1681, members of the Court of Assizes petitioned the Duke for an Assembly to be elected by freeholders, and citizen unrest was apparent in, among other things, their refusal to pay taxes.

Petitions to the legislature from voters in twenty-four counties in 1844 asked for legislation authorizing the people to vote on the question of calling a Constitutional Convention. The legislature responded by passing such an act on May 13, 1845. The voters approved the Constitutional Convention at the polls that November. Delegates to the convention produced a major reorganization of the judiciary article of the constitution.

The 1894 New York State Constitution (Article 14, Section 2) required that the question "Shall there be a convention to revise the Constitution and amend the same" be put to voters during 1936. The legislature (Laws of 1936, Chapter 598) further clarified this constitutional requirement and on November 3, 1936, New York voters approved the holding of a constitutional convention. This Convention was held in Albany from April 5 to August 26, 1938. As delegates to the Convention, voters chose 92 Republications, 75 Democrats, and one member of the American Labor Party.

Assemblyman William B. Hoyt served in the state assembly (Democrat, Assembly District 144 in Erie County) from 1974 until his death in 1992. During that time he sponsored over 145 bills that eventually passed into law. He chaired the Standing Committee on Energy, and was a member of the committees on Environmental Conservation; Children and Families (chair of the Subcommittee on Child Abuse); Corporations, Authorities and Commissions; and Ways and Means.

The Legislative Commission on Economy and Efficiency in Government was established by Chapter 50, Laws of 1979 (the annual state budget act). It was continued in operation via reappropriations in the budget laws of succeeding years, but was never given any separate statutory base. In 1986, the budget law changed the commission's name to the Legislative Commission on Public Management Systems; however, its structure and duties have remained unchanged.

The legislature can trace its origins to several representative councils that met during the 1640s and 1650s, the period of Dutch rule in New Netherland. The director general of the colony, assisted by an appointed council, held exclusive executive, legislative, and judicial authority. In 1641, representatives chosen by the people met and called for this authority to be limited. Over the next several years, similar meetings were called to represent popular interests before the colony's director general.

The New York State Tug Hill Commission was created as a Legislative Commission in 1972 (Chapter 972) and charged with studying the region and recommending means of protecting its environment and strengthening its economy for the long term. Known as the Temporary State Commission on Tug Hill, the commission served its first twenty-five years under various "sunset" provisions of each amendment to Chapter 972.