Research

The first State financial aid to students at institutions of higher learning was a program of scholarships to Cornell University set up when the university was established in 1865 (Chapter 585). These scholarships were administered by the Department of Public Instruction and later by the State Education Department, and the first awards were made in 1868. In 1913 (Chapter 292) the Regents College Scholarships were established. These scholarships were awarded through a competitive examination and could be used at any approved college in New York State.

The New York State Commission on Public Integrity was established by the Public Employee Ethics Reform Act of 2007 to insure compliance with the ethical standards that public officials and lobbyists must observe in order to ensure public trust and confidence in government.

This division was established by legislation in 1926 in anticipation of the adoption of the 1927 constitutional amendment requiring the governor to prepare a State budget and the necessary appropriation bills to put it into effect. Until the late nineteenth century the management of State finance rested largely upon the legislature, which appropriated money, and upon the comptroller, who computed the amount of revenue needed to cover the legislative action and notified the counties of the amount they would be required to raise for the State through taxes on real and personal property.

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).

Creation of the Department of Environmental Conservation in 1970 (Chapter 140) was preceded by over a century of State conservation activity carried out by a number of agencies. The first, a three-member Fisheries Commission, was established in 1868 (Chapter 285) to restore and protect the propagation of fish in the State's rivers, lakes, and streams.

New York State's first civil service law, enacted in 1883 (Chapter 354), provided for a merit system of competitive examinations for the appointment and promotion of State government employees. It established a Civil Service Commission, consisting of three persons appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the senate, to administer the law. In 1884 civil service provisions were extended to some local governments; municipal civil service commissions were established and supervised by the state commission.

This department's roots can be traced back to the establishment of the Dairy Commission in 1884 (Chapter 202). The commission, headed by a commissioner appointed by the governor, was empowered to regulate agriculture by inspecting dairy production and sales facilities to ensure product quality.

The Executive Department resulted from the constitutional reorganization of State government in 1925. Prior to reorganization, the executive branch of the government had grown to include nearly 200 administrative departments, boards, and commissions. Constitutional amendments in 1925 and 1927 abolished or significantly consolidated these offices and expanded the power of the executive office. In 1925 an amendment provided for the consolidation of all administrative agencies into not more than twenty State departments, including an Executive Department.

The department evolved from two separate organizations created in 1935: the Division of State Planning, in the Executive Department, and the Bureau of State Publicity, in the Conservation Department. The Division of State Planning (Laws of 1935, Chapter 304) was established to coordinate plans for State economic development. It was headed by the State Planning Council, which consisted of five members appointed by the governor. The Conservation Department's Bureau of Publicity was established to undertake advertising and promotion of tourism (Laws of 1935, Chapter 808).

Early State park and recreation policies were closely related to conservation efforts. A Temporary State Park Commission, established in 1872 (Chapter 848) to study the feasibility of forming a public park in the "timbered regions" of the Adirondack Mountains, rejected a proposal to create a park for recreational purposes but recommended preservation of the land and timber resources. No action was taken until 1884, when the legislature directed the comptroller to establish a committee to formulate a plan for forest preservation.