§ 203-B — Additional duties of the commissioner regarding information on state boards

§ 203-b. Additional duties of the commissioner regarding information\non state boards. 1. As used in this section, "commissioner" means the\ncommissioner of general services and, "board" means any board,\ncommission, committee, council, task force or any similar state public\norganization, required to be established pursuant to the state\nconstitution, state statutes or executive order, for the exercise of any\nfunction of state government and to which members are appointed or\nelected. "Board" does not include:\n a. any informal advisory organization not established by law;\n b. any joint standing committee of the legislature or any committee of\nthe assembly and/or senate composed entirely of members of the\nlegislature;\n c. any court;\n d. the board of trustees of any institution of higher education\nfinancially supported in whole or in part by the state;\n e. any entity of local government;\n f. any public authority or public benefit corporation, a majority of\nwhose members are appointed by the governor or serve as members by\nvirtue of holding state offices to which they were appointed by the\ngovernor, or any combination thereof; and\n g. any board of elections.\n 2. The commissioner shall maintain a list of all state boards,\nincluding state boards deemed active and regularly meeting on and after\nthe effective date of this section. The commissioner shall keep such\nlist on a website designated by the commissioner for the purpose of\npublic access, and such list shall have a link to the website for each\nsuch board established pursuant to subdivision three of this section.\nThe designated website shall be updated annually.\n 3. Each board or the state agency that provides administrative support\nor is otherwise affiliated with a board shall establish and maintain a\nwebsite available to the public and provide a link to such website to\nthe commissioner. Each board or the state agency that provides\nadministrative support or is otherwise affiliated with a board shall\nannually on or before January first, update the information on its\nwebsite.\n 4. The website established by each board or the state agency that\nprovides administrative support or is otherwise affiliated with a board\nshall include, but not be limited to:\n a. statutory language, executive order or other legal basis or\nauthorization for the establishment of such board;\n b. public information including departmental affiliation, contact\naddress, phone number, and website;\n c. a brief description of the purpose of the board and its legally\nrequired duties, including required reports or other products;\n d. the size of board membership, current member names, and any\nqualifications;\n e. whether members of a board are eligible for payment of expenses or\nother compensation in the performance of their duties as members of such\nboard and information on compensation and expenses incurred in the prior\nand current fiscal years, as well as projected costs for the coming\nfiscal year;\n f. meeting minutes and agendas, dates and locations of all meetings\nheld, and to be held within six months, or a location, including but not\nlimited to another website, in which such information can be publicly\naccessed;\n g. geographic and other relevant qualifications of all current members\nof the board, including the county in which the member resides and the\nbackground or expertise the member possesses where such background or\nexpertise is required for membership on such board; and\n h. any other information the commissioner may require. Nothing in this\nsection shall authorize the release or publication of any board member's\nresidential address.\n 5. Each board or the state agency that provides administrative support\nor is otherwise affiliated with a board shall update on an annual basis\nbeginning November first, two thousand twenty-three on its website, all\nvacancies, expired terms, terms expiring within one year, and the\nprocess for filling such vacancies on such boards.\n 6. On or before January first, two thousand twenty-four, the\ncommissioner shall report to the governor, the speaker of the assembly,\nthe temporary president of the senate, the chair of the assembly\noversight, analysis and investigation committee and the chair of the\nsenate investigations and government operations committee on the status\nof the list including but not limited to the number of boards reported\nand verified. The commissioner shall also report on any impediments to\nobtaining information.\n