Research

State government efforts to protect fish, wildlife, and marine resources began with the establishment of the Fisheries Commission in 1868. Established to promote the propagation of fish in the State's rivers, lakes, and streams, the Fisheries Commission was combined with the Forest Commission to form the Fisheries, Game, and Forest Commission in 1895. This commission was renamed the Forest, Fish and Game Commission in 1900.

The Farm Manpower Service began operation upon the appointment of its director, T. Norman Hurd, by a resolution of the New York State War Council in 1943. It was formed in order to coordinate the work of all federal, state, and local agencies as well as farm organizations, groups, and individuals dealing with the severe war-time labor shortage faced by food producers in New York State.

Organized at the department Commissioner's request in 1960, the Departmental Committee on Rehabilitation existed for one year. Its assigned activities were information exchange between medical bureaus, coordination of planning, review of existing programs and recommendations for future programs, and special assignments from the Commissioner.

When the United States declared war on Japan in December 1941, over ninety percent of the nation's crude rubber supply was controlled by the Japanese and instantly lost. Almost immediately, the U.S. government took steps to ensure that civilian consumption would not interfere with military exigencies: in January 1941, all new car sales were frozen and by the end of July 1942, gas rationing had been implemented. New York State, where seventy-five percent of the work force depended on personal automobiles to commute between home and work, was particularly hard hit.

The Temporary Salary Standardization Board was appointed by Governor Herbert H. Lehman (L. 1937, Ch. 859). It was charged with reviewing the State of New York's salary plan "in light of salaries paid in private companies and agencies and in other governmental jurisdictions" (Survey Report of the Salary Standardization Board). Throughout its existence, the Board gathered comparable salary data for the different positions filled by approximately 52,500 State employees during the 1940s.

The Joint Legislative Committee on Legislative Practices and Procedures was created in 1957 (Joint Resolution, March 30, 1957) to examine ways to make the state's legislative process more efficient. Of immediate concern was the abrupt increase in the number of bills introduced in the legislature and the sudden logjam of these bills coming in the middle of the legislative session. The committee studied all phases of the legislative process; introduction, amending, consideration, voting on bills and recommended ways to streamline the procedures especially in the area of bill prefiling.

When the United States first began inducting young men into the armed forces during World War II, almost thirty percent were rejected as physically unfit. To help alleviate this, the New York State War Council formed the Office of Physical Fitness, which, in conjunction with the State Education Department's Division of Health and Physical Education, developed, coordinated, and assisted the State Physical Fitness Program. Initially the office worked to promote and assist physical education activities among secondary school children.

The Temporary State Commission on the Modernization, Revision, and Simplication of the Law of Estates was directed in 1961 (Chapter 731) to make a comprehensive study of the personal property law, the decedent estate law, the surrogate's court act, and other statutes, for the purpose of correcting defects, or for modernizing, simplifying and improving the laws. These laws relate to estates and their administration, the descent and distribution of property, and associated practices and procedures. In its final report to Governor Nelson A.

In 1934, the Legislature created the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Public Utilities (Concurrent Resolution, April 20, 1934). Responding to public demand for an investigation of public utility companies operating in New York, the legislature established the Committee to examine the organization, operation, financing, rate structure, and other phases of gas and electric service and to recommended remedial legislation where necessary.

The Temporary State Commission on Coordination of State Activities (Mahoney Commission) was created by a 1946 law (Chapter 1002) to investigate State agencies' operations, to determine if they were economical and efficient, to determine if unnecessary activities and duplication of functions could be eliminated by reorganizing an agency or consolidating it with another, and to propose legislation to this end.