Research

The Assembly Program and Counsel Staff (formerly the Assembly Program and Committee Staff) was established by the Assembly in 1969. The office answers directly to the Assembly Speaker and Counsel to the Speaker; it is supervised by a Director and Deputy Director.

The position of State Historian was created by statute in 1895 (Chapter 393) and filled by appointment of the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The State Historian's official duties were to "collect, collate, compile, edit and prepare for publication all official records, memoranda and data" relative to the wars and state relations of the Colony and State of New York. For nearly two decades he carried out this mandate by collecting and publishing records on the history of the state.

There has been a unit charged with the collection of statistical data since the creation of the Education Department in 1904. These units originally were also responsible for apportioning State aid to schools. These duties were handled by the Statistics Division from 1904 to 1917. In that year a Statistics Section (renamed Statistics Bureau in 1923) was established in the Administration Division. The Bureau was transferred to the Finance Division in 1928.

By act of the legislature passed on April 30, 1864, the secretary of the State Medical Society, Dr. Sylvester D. Willard, was authorized to investigate the condition of the insane poor in the various poorhouses, almshouses, insane asylums, and other institutions throughout the state (except those required by law to report to the legislature), and to transmit the acquired information to county judges in the state. Each judge then appointed a physician to visit the institutions where the insane poor were kept, to examine their condition and treatment.

In 1975, a State Court of Appeals decision (Hellerstein v. Assessor, Town of Islip, 37 NY 2d 1, 1975) declared illegal New York's system of classified property tax assessments. New York, as did most states, had a system that placed a larger share of property tax burden on businesses by assessing such property at a higher percentage of value than residential and agricultural property. The 1975 ruling mandated full value assessments on all property and many communities in the state began to comply with the ruling.

Although lotteries were a major source of state revenue in the early nineteenth century, New York State did not operate any state lotteries for nearly 150 years because the state constitutions of 1821, 1846, and 1894 specifically prohibited them. At the 1966 general election the constitution was amended to allow the establishment and operation of a state lottery. The following year (Ch. 278, L. 1967) enabling legislation created the lottery and designated that net proceeds be used for public education and scholarships.

The Commission was created in 1972 (Chapters 466 and 467). It consists of five members appointed by the governor, one of whom the governor designates as chairperson. The Commission was abolished in 1995 (Chapter 83) and its functions were transferred to the Public Service Commission.

Various geographic areas in New York state are characterized by persistent and pervasive poverty, high unemployment, limited new job creation, dependence on public assistance, dilapidated and abandoned industrial and commercial facilities and a shrinking tax base. To remedy these conditions, the Legislature authorized the formation of up to 72 Empire Zones through a series of eight competitive designation rounds in which applicants identify the economic benefits they will attain through creation of a Zone.

The Assembly Standing Committee on Housing was established in 1966 to review and research all legislation within its jurisdiction and to provide legislative oversight where necessary. This jurisdiction covers: the Multiple Dwelling Law; the Multiple Residence Law; the Private Housing Finance Law; and the Public Housing Law. In addition, the Committee has jurisdiction over legislation amending those sections of the Unconsolidated Laws dealing with housing concerns. The Committee maintains several subcommittees to develop and review legislation and to conduct public hearings where necessary.

In 1944 Governor Thomas E. Dewey appointed an interdepartmental committee to study the problem of juvenile delinquency. Upon the recommendation of this committee, the New York State Youth Commission, a temporary state commission comprised of a chairperson appointed by the governor and the commissioners of the departments of Correction, Education, Health, Mental Hygiene, and Social Welfare, the industrial commissioner, and the chairperson of the Board of Parole, was established in 1945 (Chapter 556).