The New York Public Authorities Reform Act of 2010 (4/27/2010)
A program on the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009 was presented by the Government Law Center’s Public Authorities Project on April 27, 2010, to a full-house in the Dean Alexander Moot Courtroom at Albany Law School. The Independent Authorities Budget Office co-hosted the event.
Panelists included Ira M. Millstein, Esq., Senior Partner, Weil, Gotschal & Manges LLP, Chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Implementation of the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009, Senior Associate Dean for Corporate Governance, Yale School of Management; Luke Bierman, Esq., Office of the New York State Comptroller; David Kidera, Interim Executive Director of the (new) Independent Authorities Budget Office; and Scott Fein, Esq., Partner, Whiteman Osterman & Hannah LLP, member of the Governor’s Task Force on Implementation of the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009, Director, Public Authorities Project of the Government Law Center. Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and Senator Bill Perkins also addressed the close to 200 attendees.
Click here to watch the video.
Public Authorities Law: Maintaining the Balance (6/03/09)
(From left: Luke Bierman, Elizabeth Lynam, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, and Scott Fein)
The Government Law Center’s Public Authorities Project hosted a program on June 3rd, 2009, at Albany Law School on “The Proposed Legislation to Amend the Public Authorities Law: Maintaining the Balance Between Authority Autonomy and Accountability.”
Participants included Luke Bierman, General Counsel, Office of the State Comptroller; New York State Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky ; and Elizabeth Lynam, Deputy Research Director at the Citizens Budget Commission. Scott Fein, Esq., director of the Public Authorities Project and Partner, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, LLP, moderated the panel.
Public authorities are currently responsible for more than 90 percent of New York State’s indebtedness, as well as management of more than 85 percent of its infrastructure. A healthy tension exists between allowing public authorities to operate outside of political influence while ensuring that they remain accountable for their performance to the public and elected officials.
The panel discussed the proposed reform legislation (S. 1537-B, A.2209-C) including means and measures available for the evaluation of authority performance; resources that could potentially be made available and the availability of administrative sanctions; nature of the fiscal reforms; potential scope of the State Comptroller’s contract review; and the implications of board member certification of independence.
Click on the following links to view the video from this program:
Public Authorities: Evaluating the Reforms (5/20/08)
Scott Fein, Esq., director of the Public Authorities Project, spoke about public authority reform as part of the Warren M. Anderson Legislative Breakfast Seminar Series in May, 2008. Topics addressed during the lecture include public authority board member training, board member responsibilities under the Public Authorities Accountability Act of 2005, and other state ethics laws applicable to public authorities.
Click here to watch the video.
Assessing the Fourth Branch of Government: The Benefits and Challenges of Public Authorities in New York State (03/04/05)
Organized by the Government Law Center, speakers for this symposium included Richard Ravitch, Alan Hevesi, Ira Millstein, Richard Brodsky, Ken Bond, Walter Kicinski, George Weissman, Brian McMahon, Vincent Leibell, Scott Fein, Charles Brecher, Barbara Bartoletti, and Patrick Bulgaro.
The symposium agenda and speaker biographies can be accessed here.
Click on the following links to view the video from this program (each one is about three hours long):
Public Authorities Information Clearinghouse 