Research

The Bureau is responsible for carrying out the Department of State's function to advise municipalities on law. The Bureau accomplishes this by advising municipalities on such issues as: planning and zoning laws; reapportionment of local legislative bodies; home rule powers; county and city charters; municipal cooperation agreements; and local government incorporations, dissolutions, mergers, and annexations.

Created by Chapter 987 of the Laws of 1970, the commission consisted of 11 state citizens: three appointed by the temporary president of the senate; three appointed by the speaker of the assembly; and five appointed by the governor. The commission was chaired by Senator William T. Conklin. In March 1971 the legislature appropriated {dollar}18 million as an emergency aid to cultural institutions. The funds, received from the New York State Council on the Arts, supported institutions engaged in the arts and humanities, libraries, education, and recreation.

The Rural Education Bureau was established by the Board of Regents in 1923 and upgraded to Division status in 1932. During the major departmental reorganization of 1937 its functions were transferred to the new Division of School Administrative Services. In 1941, upon the death of the long time division director, the functions were transferred by the Commissioner to the Assistant Commissioner for Instructional Supervision and the Division was abolished shortly thereafter.

The Municipal Assistance Corporation for the City of New York (MAC) was established through State legislation on June 10, 1975 in order to address the New York City government's severe fiscal crisis in the spring of 1975, when the City was unable to pay its bills and a default on outstanding debt was likely. Creation of the Corporation was recommended to Governor Hugh L. Carey by a special panel comprised of Simon H. Rifkind, Felix G. Rohatyn, Richard M. Shinn and Donald B. Smiley.

The New York State Emergency Financial Control Board for the City of Yonkers was created in 1975 (Ch. 871) to oversee the financial recovery of the then nearly bankrupt city of Yonkers. With the approval of the board, the city developed a financial plan to cope with the crisis. The act of 1975 gave the Board the right of approval and disapproval of all contracts and loans entered into by the city.

The Legislative Commission on Energy Systems was created by Chapter 460, Laws of 1975. In 1979 (Chapter 50), the Commission was renamed the Legislative Commission on Science and Technology. The Commission consists of ten members, including both Members of the Legislature and private individuals. The Commission's responsibility is to study technical and scientific developments on our society and to report the Legislature on how these developments might affect the economic life of the state.

The predecessor to this Board, the Council of Economic Advisers, was created by executive order in 1968 to advise the Governor on economic and fiscal policy matters affecting the state, to study and report on economic trends in the state, to prepare an annual state economic report, and to make special economic and fiscal studies as deemed appropriate. The Council consisted of seven members appointed by the Governor, and was instructed not to duplicate the functions of existing agencies (Executive Order 30, November 1968).

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.