Research

The Legislative Commission on Expenditure Review (LCER) was established after a recommendation by the Joint Legislative Committee on Fiscal Analysis and Review, as a permanent, bipartisan legislative agency by the Laws of 1969, Chapter 176, to determine whether state agencies and departments efficiently and effectively implement their programs in line with legislative intent and authorization.

The election and duties of the Clerk of the Assembly are prescribed in several sections of the Legislative Law (Laws of 1909, Chapter 37). The Clerk is elected by a majority of the Assembly and works under the direction of the Speaker of the Assembly. The position of Clerk of the Assembly has been in existence since 1777, with the its inclusion in the first state constitution.

Created in 1968, the commission consisted of twenty-one citizens: eleven who were appointed by the governor (one of whom was the chief of staff to the governor); five who were appointed by the temporary president of the senate; and another five who were appointed by the speaker of the assembly. The governor appointed John H.G. Pell as chairman and E.K. Fretwell as vice chairman. The remaining members were appointed in June, 1969. In 1974 (Chapter 92), commission membership was expanded to twenty-seven.

The function of this committee is to protect the rights of convicted individuals by developing a system of determinate sentencing to replace open-ended and inconsistent sentences. The committee was to establish firm guidelines to be applied uniformly throughout the state. The committee consisted of 14 members: six appointed by the Governor; 2 appointed by the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals; and six by the Legislative leaders. The Committee was established in 1983 (L. 1983 ch. 711) and was required to make its proposals and recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by 1985.

The commission was created as an executive agency by Chapter 394 of the Laws of 1969 to insure optimum conservation, protection, preservation, development, and use of the scenic, historical, ecological, economic, and recreational resources of the region. Chapter 74 of the Laws of 1971 reconstituted the commission as an independent unit within the Office of Planning Services, and transferred its staff and activities to that office.

Prior to the establishment of the State Ethics Commission in 1987, and implementation of the "Ethics in Government Act" (section 73 of the Public Officers Law) in 1988, governors Carey and Cuomo issued five executive orders relating to financial disclosure. The boards resulting from the executive orders, with some differences in filing requirements, consisted of the same officials and performed the same functions as the subsequent State Ethics Commission. Governor Carey established the first Board of Public Disclosure in 1975 by Executive Order 10.

This Office investigated and prepared special reports for various Assembly committees. The Office was responsible to Speaker of the Assembly, Stanley Steingut. It was in operation from 1975 to 1978. The Office was headed by William Haddad and was commonly called the Haddad Committee. Among reports prepared by the Office were those on the New York State Lottery (1975), banks and the New York City financial crisis (1976), and the safety of generic drugs (1977).

On October 14, 1981, Governor Carey announced the formation of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Centennial Commission for the purpose of planning a statewide and national commemoration for the centennial of Roosevelt's birth and the fiftieth anniversary of his first presidential election. Arthur Schlesinger, Pulitzer prize winning author and Roosevelt biographer, headed the 80-member commission and Fredrica S. Goodman served as its Executive Director.

The Temporary State Commission to Recodify the Family Court Act was created in 1980 (Chapter 50) to examine and make recommendations concerning the effectiveness of the Family Court in fulfilling its adjudicatory role in the care and protection of the young and the preservation of the family.

The State Board of Equalization was established by Laws of 1859 (Chapter 312) to equalize county property value assessments on the basis of which a State property tax was levied. As a result of the 1925 State government reorganization, the board was placed in the Department of Taxation and Finance with responsibilities for coordinating and equalizing assessments for use in distributing State aid to municipalities and setting municipal tax limits after the State property tax was discontinued in 1928.