Does anyone actually read or review our NYS Laws?

Take a look at this: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/lawssrch.cgi?NVLWO:?SITECHGNO=&SITEBFPAGE=&SEATYPE=AQUA&QLAWDATA=%24%24VAT1236%24%24%40TXVAT01236&LIST=SEA3&hwebpage=LAWS&haction=&ZQLAWDATA=1236&HQLAWDATA=1236&FRMT=+&HILITE=+&hsearesults=N&hseareq=Y&hcontents=N&hcontreq=N&PHREFLW=&PHREFNO=&PHREFNM=&NHREFLW=%24%24VAT375%24%24%40TXVAT0375&NHREFNO=SEA2&NHREFNM=Vehicle+and+Traffic+Law+%C2%A7+375&HTOKEN=15912673&hdlnkrows=0000&hdlinkstbl=&hsessyr=0000&CBSTATUS=&CBTEXT=&CBSUMMARY=&CBSPONMEMO=&CBUNFORMATTED=&CBBILLFILE=&CBBILLTRK=&CBBLIQ=&CBFACESHEET=&CBGOVPOSN=&CBMAYORPOSN=&CBBILLTITLE=&CBASMHR=&CBSENHR=&CBCBR=&CBSAHIST=&CBACTRULES=

Yes, that is a link to our actual New York State Law from our "New York Legislative Bill Drafting Commission" (LBDC) see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Bill_Drafting_Commission

And if this link does not work for you, then try http://www.safeny.ny.gov/bike-vt.htm#sec1236 which is yet another of our government sites that lists our laws.

Now to the point, we should all read these laws and hold referendums via a direct initiative process to update the laws and create new laws.

For example, let us read the text of this particular law section NYS VAT 1236

§ 1236. Lamps and other equipment on bicycles. (a) Every bicycle when in use during the period from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible during hours of darkness from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front and with a red or amber light visible to the rear for three hundred feet. Effective July first, nineteen hundred seventy-six, at least one of these lights shall be visible for two hundred feet from each side.

(b) No person shall operate a bicycle unless it is equipped with a bell or other device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet, except that a bicycle shall not be equipped with nor shall any person use upon a bicycle any siren or whistle.

Do the people writing this actually ride a bicycle?  Why is a whistle excluded?  Why is only a bell or "device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet" required?  In most real near collisions there is no time to move your hand to the "device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet"

Plus there seems to be no law that you must even use the "device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet"  What would that look like?  Let's create one to see.

Proposed Law regarding usage of "device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet"

(b)(X) Method of giving audible signals by bicyclists. All signals herein required to be given by bicyclists by hand shall be given in the following manner and such signals shall be given 10 seconds BEFORE any INCIDENT OR COLLISION and shall indicate as follows:

1. Incident on Left side. Left hand presses "device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet" and rings three times.

2. Incident on Right side. Right hand presses "device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet" and rings three times.

3. Incident on Front side. Both Left and Right hand presses "device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least one hundred feet" and rings three times.

(c) Every bicycle shall be equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make the braked wheels skid on dry, level, clean pavement.

This seems to be a bizarre description of working brakes.  Why not the brakes must be able to stop in X feet at Y speed.  

(d) Every new bicycle shall be equipped with reflective tires or, alternately, a reflex reflector mounted on the spokes of each wheel, said tires and reflectors to be of types approved by the commissioner. The reflex reflector mounted on the front wheel shall be colorless or amber, and the reflex reflector mounted on the rear wheel shall be colorless or red.

Why not make bells required on new bikes since they seem to be required in another section?

(e) Every bicycle when in use during the period from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise shall be equipped with reflective devices or material meeting the standards established by rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner; provided, however, that such standards shall not be inconsistent with or otherwise conflict with the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (d) of this section.

Wouldn't it be nice if our law actually linked to the other "rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner"???

Andy Goodell please could you post all the issues that you spoke about in the 3/30/2015 new york state assembly session.

Andy Goodell please could you post all the issues that you spoke about in the 3/30/2015 assembly session. For example...
Posted by Ralph Yozzo on Monday, April 13, 2015

Full Post (in case it is lost in facebook):

Andy Goodell please could you post all the issues that you spoke about in the 3/30/2015 assembly session. For example on Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation - BOEDC and glimmerglass, etc., etc.

It would be helpful if we could see all the budget issues in writing.

Please reply with a link if all the issues are already on the web.

We wonder why it is ok for the Chairman to be allowed to answer that "if it were illegal/unconstitutional then we would be sued and no one is suing us so it must be okay" which seems to be the answer to many of your questions.

Thank you. 

New York State Budget Message of Necessity

Here is a timeline of the references to "message of necessity" in our New York State Budget process

See http://civic-data.github.io/laws-of-planet-earth/us/ny/scripts_openlegislation/getdata1.html for live chart and data.

It appears that "message of necessity" letters are being used mostly end of March 2015 and also June 2014.  The outlier references in January 2015 seem to be attempts to stop the "message of necessity" usage by the current minority party in the New York State Senate and Assembly.

This tool can be used to search on any term and to chart on a timeline when it is used.

You can fork it on github here: https://github.com/civic-data/laws-of-planet-earth 

Message of necessity?

Why is our 2015 New York State budget passed by votes that our governor certified that there are "facts which in his or her opinion necessitate an immediate vote thereon"?

See http://nyconstitution.org/new-york-state-constitution#Article_III_Section_14

[Manner of passing bills; message of necessity for immediate vote]
§14. No bill shall be passed or become a law unless it shall have been printed and upon the desks of the members, in its final form, at least three calendar legislative days prior to its final passage, unless the governor, or the acting governor, shall have certified, under his or her hand and the seal of the state, the facts which in his or her opinion necessitate an immediate vote thereon, in which case it must nevertheless be upon the desks of the members in final form, not necessarily printed, before its final passage; nor shall any bill be passed or become a law, except by the assent of a majority of the members elected to each branch of the legislature; and upon the last reading of a bill, no amendment thereof shall be allowed, and the question upon its final passage shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the ayes and nays entered on the journal. (Formerly §15. Renumbered and amended by Constitutional Convention of 1938 and approved by vote of the people November 8, 1938; further amended by vote of the people November 6, 2001.)

Luckily our New York State Senate has a rudimentary API.

See http://civic-data.github.io/laws-of-planet-earth/us/ny/scripts_openlegislation/getdata1.html for an example of what you can do with it.

This script asks for a thousand recent references to "message of necessity".  It seems to be a popular phrase.

See http://www.oswegocountygovernments.com/pages/ny_functions.html

It appears that the "three calendar legislative days" can result in longer than 3 days.  But is the answer to require immediate votes at the discretion of our governor.  

What do you think?

See also https://github.com/civic-data/laws-of-planet-earth/tree/gh-pages/us/ny/scripts_openlegislation for open source relating to this discussion and https://github.com/civic-data/laws-of-planet-earth for a starting point to organize our laws.


See examples of "message of necessity" in only the past few days:

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:13 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S2000C-2015-1427760013000-message of necessity - 3 day message
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S2000C-2015

---

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:13 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S2004C-2015-1427760013000-message of necessity - 3 day message
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S2004C-2015

---

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:11 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S4612B-2015-1427760011000-message of necessity - 3 day message
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S4612B-2015

---

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:11 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S2006B-2015-1427760011000-message of necessity - 3 day message
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S2006B-2015

---

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:10 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S4610A-2015-1427760010000-message of necessity - 3 day message
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S4610A-2015

---

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:05 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S2006B-2015-1427760005000-MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S2006B-2015

---

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:07 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S2004C-2015-1427760007000-MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S2004C-2015

---

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:07 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S2000C-2015-1427760007000-MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S2000C-2015

---

Sun Mar 15 2015 20:00:00 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: bill

length: 1
title: Establishes the New York State Terrorist Registry
sponsor: DenDekker
id: A6129A-2015
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A6129A-2015

---

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:05 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S4612B-2015-1427760005000-MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S4612B-2015

---

Mon Mar 30 2015 20:00:04 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: S4610A-2015-1427760004000-MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S4610A-2015

---

Sun Mar 29 2015 20:00:12 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: A3007B-2015-1427673612000-MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A3007B-2015

---

Sun Mar 29 2015 20:00:12 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: A3009B-2015-1427673612000-MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A3009B-2015

---

Mon Feb 09 2015 19:00:00 GMT-0500 (EST)

type: bill

length: 1
title: Establishes the New York State Terrorist Registry
sponsor: CROCI
id: S3464A-2015
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S3464A-2015

---

Sun Mar 29 2015 20:00:07 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: A3009B-2015-1427673607000-message of necessity - 3 day message
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A3009B-2015

---

Sun Mar 29 2015 20:00:07 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: A3007B-2015-1427673607000-message of necessity - 3 day message
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A3007B-2015

---

Sun Mar 29 2015 20:00:09 GMT-0400 (EDT)

type: action

id: A3003C-2015-1427673609000-MESSAGE OF NECESSITY - 3 DAY MESSAGE
url: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A3003C-2015

---

See quotes from 2004 and 1948 and 1918:

Six years of experience have taught me that in every case the reason for the failures of good legislation in the public interest and the passage of ineffective and abortive legislation can be traced directly to the rules. New York State Senator George F. Thompson Thompson Asks Aid for Senate Reform New York Times, Dec. 23, 1918 

Some day a legislative leadership with a sense of humor will push through both houses resolutions calling for the abolition of their own legislative bodies and the speedy execution of the members. If read in the usual mumbling tone by the clerk and voted on in the usual uninquiring manner, the resolution will be adopted unanimously. Warren Moscow Politics in the Empire State (Alfred A. Knopf 1948)

From https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/d/albanyreform_execsum.pdf

Unnecessary “Messages of Necessity.” The New York State Constitution requires that legislators have the opportunity to read and consider a bill for at least three days before voting on its final passage.4 If, however, the Governor certifies in a “message of necessity” requested by the Speaker or Majority Leader that a bill must be voted on immediately, those leaders can pass the bill without allowing the legislators themselves or the public any meaningful opportunity to review it. Far from being reserved for emergencies, the Speaker and Majority Leader use the “message of necessity” EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 MIDNIGHT PASSAGE WITHOUT DEBATE: $1.8 BILLION FOR AN ENDORSEMENT Few would argue that health care workers did not deserve a raise in 2002. But whether the legislation to provide those raises should have been debated and reviewed before passage is another story. The Health Care Workforce Recruitment and Retention Act of 2002 provided $1.8 billion in raises for health care workers in SEIU Local 1199. The law was passed after closed-door negotiations among the Governor, Speaker, and Majority Leader. There was no debate, and there were no hearings. The Insurance and Health Committees never saw or voted on the bill. The legislation was passed in the middle of the night, using a message of necessity, without any chance for legislators even to read it. It was widely reported that in exchange for the law’s enactment, then-candidate Governor Pataki received the endorsement of SEIU Local 1199 president Dennis Rivera. Speaker Sheldon Silver’s campaign committee received $281,200 from SEIU Local 1199 and its affiliated hospital association. Majority Leader Bruno’s campaign committee received $230,350. The lesson? When the people’s representatives are left out of the legislative process, the people lose their voice. When the committees of the legislature are bypassed, fundamental public policy concerns, such as the state’s $5 billion budget deficit at the time of this deal, are ignored. And when important laws are enacted without debate or hearings, political deal-making rules the day. frequently to bypass the State’s constitutional aging requirement. From 1997 through 2001, a message of necessity was requested and obtained for at least one chamber’s vote on 26.9% of the major legislation that was passed.

Please everyone look at the New York State Budget

Please go to http://openbudget.ny.gov/spendingForm.html and tell everyone what you think.

For example, sort on 2015-2016 Estimates "descending".  You will see that the top value is 991 which means that the project with the highest estimate is $991,000 which is clearly not true because there are entries for $31 Billion.  This is simply a bug in the sorting.  Our NYS openbudget.ny.gov site is sorting based on alphabetic sorting.  Yes 9 is after 3, but $31 Billion is greater than $991 K.

This is really a shame that our openbudget.ny.gov is so filled with bugs.

• Where are the details for all of the numbers?
• Where is the process for oversight and the application for the budget categories?
• Where is the transparency?
• Where is the referendum vote for each of these items?

For those that want a working spreadsheet version of this New York State Budget as downloaded today see: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1u1zi3tFDMPl39rwT3C_VHJNrpn6zR3HIoXJDjg7Yveo/edit?usp=sharing

Here's a link to a simple chart showing part of the data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1u1zi3tFDMPl39rwT3C_VHJNrpn6zR3HIoXJDjg7Yveo/pubchart?oid=1530843224&format=interactive

Sorting bug on http://openbudget.ny.gov/spendingForm.html

Yes this sorts $991K as larger than $31Billion Oy Vey!  this is a disgrace!