§ 179-D — Legislative intent

§ 179-d. Legislative intent. Firms and organizations that do business\nwith the state of New York expect and deserve to be paid in a prompt and\ntimely manner. Unjustified delays in paying vendors, construction\ncontractors, and providers of service may discourage such firms and\norganizations from doing business with the state of New York and may\nultimately increase the costs to the state government of purchasing\nmaterials, equipment, and supplies; undertaking construction and\nreconstruction projects; and obtaining a wide variety of professional\nand other specialized services including those that are provided to\npersons in need. Consequently, this legislation sets standards for the\npayment of bills incurred by state agencies within specified periods of\ntime and requires interest payments in situations where contract\npayments do not conform to these standards. Consistent with accepted\nbusiness practices and with sound principles of fiscal management, it is\nthe intent of this legislation to encourage state agencies in all three\nbranches of state government to make payments at least as expeditiously\nas they currently do and further to reduce existing payment processing\ntimes whenever feasible, while at the same time permitting the state\nagencies to perform proper and reasonable financial oversight activities\ndesigned to ensure that the state government receives the quality of\ngoods and services to which it is entitled and to ensure that public\nfunds are spent in a prudent and responsible manner.\n