Research

The Governor's Task Force on Information Resource Management was established in 1996. In 1997, it became the Office of Technology (OFT) (Chapter 430, Laws of 1997). An Advisory Council for Technology, comprised of at least eleven state agency information resource directors, reviews and comments upon all rules and regulations drafted by OFT and guides and supports the office as it develops statewide plans.

The Office for the Aging is the successor to several legislative and executive bodies. The formulation of policies for the aging began in 1947 with the creation of the Joint Legislative Committee to Study the Problems of the Aging. This committee was reconstituted annually by legislative resolution until 1969. Meanwhile, in 1955, an Interdepartmental Committee on Problems of the Aging was established by executive order to advise the governor on problems and developments affecting the aging and to formulate recommendations for action.

The council was created in 1977 (Chapter 757). In 2003 (Chapter 62), the council was placed administratively within the Office of Children and Family Services but its structure and purpose remained essentially the same. The council consists of the commissioners or directors of the State's twelve health, education, and human services agencies. The governor designates the chairman and chief executive officer of the council. Staff of the Office of Children and Family Services assists the council in carrying out its functions.

The Office of Business Permits was established in 1978 (Chapter 770) to maintain and provide information on business related permits and licenses. The agency was reconstituted in 1984 (Chapter 698) as the Office of Business Permits and Regulatory Assistance and expanded its authority to include the review of State agency rule making procedures.

The New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform was established by Governor George E. Pataki in February 2005 (Executive Order No. 135). Chaired by Ira Millstein, the Commission is comprised of 13 individuals with demonstrated expertise in corporate governance and public finance. Seven commissioners, including its Chairman, were appointed by Governor Pataki with the Senate Majority Leader, Speaker of the Assembly, State Comptroller, Attorney General, Senate Minority Leader, and Assembly Minority Leader each appointing one member.

In 1983, the Governor's Office for Motion Picture and Television Development was formed in the New York City offices of the Department of Commerce. The office was created out of the Motion Picture and Television Assistance Bureau within the department, which in 1979 began to work closely with the New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting to attract increased film and television production in New York State.

The Laws of 1851 (Chapter 502) authorized the governor to appoint trustees to establish an "Asylum for Idiots" to care for and educate a select number of the mentally retarded. The trustees were to procure a building and select pupils-- some from families unable to provide for their support (representative, based on residence in each of the state's judicial districts); the remainder "conveniently received" from those who could privately pay. The trustees reported annually to the legislature on the condition of the institution.

The Commission on Higher Education was established by Governor Eliot L. Spitzer (Executive Order No. 14) in May 2007.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the City of New York began to face serious financial strain due to a number of factors including increased demand upon social programs, job loss, middle-class flight to the suburbs, and over-reliance on short-term bonds. In 1975, the strain became a crisis when the Urban Development Corporation defaulted on some of its bonds, and the City's own bonds and financing came under closer scrutiny.

Under British colonial rule, appeals from the supreme court of judicature in New York were made to the royal governor and his council, sitting as a court later referred to as the court for the correction of errors and appeals. The court of last resort was the Privy Council, which met in London. The first State constitution in 1777 established the court for the trial of impeachments and correction of errors, replacing the governor and council as New York State's court of last resort. This court exercised final appellate and impeachment jurisdiction.