The New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform was established by Governor George E. Pataki in February 2005 (Executive Order No. 135). Chaired by Ira Millstein, the Commission is comprised of 13 individuals with demonstrated expertise in corporate governance and public finance. Seven commissioners, including its Chairman, were appointed by Governor Pataki with the Senate Majority Leader, Speaker of the Assembly, State Comptroller, Attorney General, Senate Minority Leader, and Assembly Minority Leader each appointing one member. In 2004, Governor Pataki established the Public Authority Governance Advisory Committee with Ira Millstein serving as chairman. The Committee, which was the precursor to the New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform was directed to develop an action plan and legislative recommendations to improve accountability and transparency at the State's public authorities. In May 2005, the commission issued preliminary recommendations concerning the accountability, structure, transparency, and governance of public authorities, almost all of which were incorporated into the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2005 (Ch. 766). The commission was disbanded shortly after it issued its May 2006 final report.
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The New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform was charged with studying, reviewing, and evaluating the operations and practices of public authorities. It was also responsible for advising and assisting public authority boards in developing and adopting model governance principles that would strengthen external oversight, management accountability such as guidelines for the conduct of internal and independent audits, internal operations, and public disclosure practices. policies governing the responsible and transparent disclosure of financial information, and .The Commission was also asked to identify appropriate opportunities for the elimination, dissolution, consolidation, or merger of public authorities and to consider realignment of individual authority
