Research

In 1921, the New York State Legislature created the Motion Picture Commission to review and license motion pictures (Ch. 715, L. 1921). This agency consisted of three commissioners appointed by the governor, as well as supporting staff. The commission functioned until 1927 when, as part of a general consolidation of state government, it was abolished and its duties transferred to the State Education Department (Ch. 544, L. 1926). The Education Department established a Motion Picture Division to carry out the review and licensing responsibilities formerly executed by the commission.

The Western House of Refuge was established as the first state reformatory of the nation by the State Legislature on May 8, 1846 (Laws of 1846, Ch. 143). The report of the Assembly committee preparing the legislation focused on the problem of juveniles being incarcerated with older criminals. In addition it argued that the state-financed but privately managed New York House of Refuge did not serve the western counties of the state (1846, Assembly Document #93). The new institution was opened in August 1849; by the end of the year there were thirty-eight male inmates.

New York's first publicly-supported institution for dependents was established in New York City in 1734. Opened in 1736, the "House of Correction, Workhouse and Poorhouse" housed the poor who refused to work, the poor who were unable to work, and the poor who were willing but unable to find work. Following the opening of this institution, more poorhouses were opened throughout the province. New York's first general hospital, established in 1771 and opened in 1791, also was in New York City. This was the province's first publicly-funded institution providing medical aid to the poor.

In 1967 the Board of Regents published a position paper ("Urban Education: A Statement of Policy and Proposed Action by the Regents of the University of The State of New York") outlining the poverty-related problems of urban schools and calling for a remedial program to alleviate these problems. The following year the State Legislature provided for a temporary apropriation of aid for locally administered programs to meet special education needs associated with urban poverty (Chapter 685).

The New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Governmental Operations' Subcommittee on Affirmative Action researched, compiled information, and reported on affirmative action as it related to the employment of women, minorities, Vietnam Era veterans, and the disabled in New York State government from 1981 to 1986.

Jonathan B. Bingham served as Secretary to the Governor from January 1, 1955 to June 30, 1958 when he went on a leave of absence to run for the New York State Senate. Bingham was Deputy Administrator of the Technical Co-operation Administration or "Point IV" Program from October 1951 to March 1953. During W. Averell Harriman's campaign for Governor, he served as Director of Research for the Citizens' Committee for the Election of Averell Harriman, George B. DeLuca, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., Arthur H. Levitt, and Adrian P. Burke.

The commission has its origins in the New York State Commission for the Blind which was established by Chapter 415 of the Laws of 1913 to improve the condition of blind persons in the state and provide the governor with recommendations for ameliorating their condition and preventing blindness. In this it continued the work of two previous commissions (1903 and 1906) to investigate the condition of the blind, and its core responsibilities remained largely unchanged as it was moved over time within the state's developing social services hierarchy.

The New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) was created by the State Legislature in 1960 (Chapter 671; Article III of the Private Housing Finance Law) as a public benefit corporation charged with "providing of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations at rental rates which families and persons of low income can afford, and which the ordinary operations of private enterprise can not provide." The agency was to issue bonds and notes to encourage investment in projects that would achieve this goal.

State policies concerning housing date from the creation of a temporary Tenement House Commission in 1900 (Chapter 279) to study urban housing conditions. The following year the legislature acted on the commission's recommendations by passing the Tenement House Law (Chapter 334), requiring local governments to enforce minimum safety and sanitation standards in apartment buildings.