§ 3 — Open Meetings of Standing Committees

§ 3. Open Meetings of Standing Committees. a. (1) Standing committees\nshall hold regular meetings at such time and on such day as the Majority\nCoalition Leaders in consultation with the chair and such schedule shall\nbe published one week in advance of the date of such meeting and shall\nbe posted on the Senate committee board. The attendance of the members\nof the committee shall be recorded at each meeting, and a copy of such\nreport shall be filed with the Journal Clerk of the Senate and made\navailable to the public. Each chair of a standing committee shall to the\nextent practicable, no later than 3 p.m. the Thursday preceding the\nregular meeting, furnish to the Conference Leaders, and make available\nto each member of such committee, a copy of the agenda of such regular\nmeeting together with a copy of the introducer's memorandum for each\nbill listed on such agenda for such regular meeting. In addition, copies\nof such agenda for such regular meeting shall be made available to\nrepresentatives of the news media and to the general public. However, in\ncase of necessity, the chair with consent of the ranking Democratic\nConference member may add no more than four items on the agenda or\ndelete items on the agenda up to 24 hours in advance of the scheduled\nmeeting and members shall be notified of such additions or deletions.\nEach standing committee chair shall decide all procedural issues which\narise during meetings of standing committees.\n (2) Standing committees may hold special meetings in case of necessity\nupon the call of the chair when the announcement is made from the floor\nduring session, or the ranking Democratic Conference member of the\ncommittee consents thereto, or upon the call of a majority of all the\nmembers thereof, entry of which fact shall be made on the records of the\ncommittee and announced by the Secretary of the Senate.\n (3) All meetings of committees shall be open to authorized\nrepresentatives of the news media and the general public as observers.\n (4) All meetings of committees shall be recorded by video and to the\nextent practicable webcast live. Video of all committee meetings shall\nbe made available on the Senate website and updated daily.\n (5) Upon the personal vote of a majority of all the members of a\ncommittee, taken in an open meeting pursuant to a motion identifying the\ngeneral area or areas of the subject or subjects to be considered, a\ncommittee may conduct an executive session of which only members of such\ncommittee are present for the following enunciated purposes provided,\nhowever, that no action by formal vote shall be taken to appropriate\npublic monies:\n (a) matters which will imperil the public safety if disclosed;\n (b) any matter which may disclose the identity of a law enforcement\nagent or informer;\n (c) information relating to current or future investigation or\nprosecution of a criminal offense which would imperil effective law\nenforcement if disclosed;\n (d) discussions regarding proposed, pending or current litigation;\n (e) collective negotiations pursuant to article fourteen of the Civil\nService Law;\n (f) the medical, financial, credit, character or employment history of\nany person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment,\nemployment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or\nremoval of any person or corporation;\n (g) the preparation, grading or administration of examinations; and\n (h) the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real property, but only\nwhen publicity would substantially affect the value of the property.\n (6) Attendance at an executive session shall be permitted to any\nmember of the committee and any other persons authorized by the\ncommittee.\n b. (1) Minutes shall be taken at all open meetings of committees which\nshall consist of a record or summary of all motions, proposals,\nresolutions and any other matter formally voted upon and the vote\nthereon.\n (2) Minutes shall be taken at executive sessions of any action that is\ntaken by formal vote which shall consist of a record or summary of the\nfinal determination of such action, and the date and vote thereon;\nprovided, however, that such summary shall not include any matter which\nis not required to be made public by "the freedom of information law" as\nadded by Article six of the Public Officers Law.\n (3) Minutes of meetings of all committees shall be available to the\npublic in accordance with the provisions of Article six of the Public\nOfficers Law, "the freedom of information law", and at such time and\nplace as prescribed by the Majority Coalition Leaders, provided,\nhowever, that minutes for executive session meetings shall be available\nto the public within one week from the date of such executive session.\n c. The provisions of this section except paragraph three of\nsubdivision a, and subdivision b shall not apply to the Committee on\nRules.\n d. Committee presentations. The chair of a committee may invite\ninterested persons to offer a presentation for a given amount of time on\na bill on the meeting agenda with notice provided to the ranking\nDemocratic Conference member no less than 72 hours in advance. Where a\ncommittee chair makes such an invitation, the ranking member shall be\nafforded an equal number of speakers who may speak for an equal amount\nof time. In addition, the ranker, without consent of the chair, shall be\nable to schedule 3 committee presentations with notice provided to the\nchair at least 72 hours in advance. The chair shall be afforded an equal\nnumber of speakers who may speak for an equal amount of time.\n e. Motion for committee consideration. No motion for committee\nconsideration shall be in order after the first Monday in May. In the\ncourse of a session year the sponsor of any bill may file, through the\nJournal Clerk, no more than three motions for committee consideration.\nSuch motions shall be in order forty-five days after a bill has been\nreferred to such committee. Once a motion for committee consideration is\nfiled, the chair of the committee shall place the bill on a committee\nagenda and schedule a vote on the bill within forty-five days, if the\nforty-five days shall expire while the senate is in recess, the bill\nshall be placed on the next regularly scheduled committee meeting's\nagenda following the end of the forty-five day period. In the case of a\nbill that is referred to a standing committee having secondary\nreference, the bill shall be considered within the next two committee\nmeetings.\n