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Ethics committee reviews state benefit-and-loan list, asks agencies for documentation
Summary
The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics reviewed the annual list of state benefit and loan programs, agreed to add a DEC firefighting reimbursement program and to remove a DNR oil-and-gas credit that expired in 2022, and asked several departments to complete formal review forms to justify changes.
The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics reviewed its required annual list of state benefit-and-loan programs and asked state agencies to provide formal explanations and review forms to support additions and removals.
Chair Joyce Anderson said the committee must publish programs that are awarded on a discretionary basis and that staff had mailed a review form to departments asking them to confirm whether items should stay on the list. Kevin, a staff member, noted a name change at the Department of Commerce and Economic Development to the Division of Investments and read a packet item from the Department of Environmental Conservation proposing the addition of a firefighting substances disposal reimbursement program.
“This is a program that does not meet the requirement that it be generally available to members of the public,” Kevin said of the DEC submission, explaining why the program was proposed for addition to the reportable list.
Committee staff also identified an oil-sale expiration incentive-credit program listed under the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas that the staff said was removed in 2022 but remained on the public list by oversight. The committee agreed to correct the listing.
Members pressed the Department of Transportation and other agencies to fill out the benefit-and-loan review form that the committee uses to document why items do or do not meet the statutory definition. Chair Anderson asked that completed forms and any supporting citations be sent to Jackie Yagle so staff can review and circulate them to committee members.
Dom, a representative of a department appearing by phone, told the committee the department had previously supplied brief, one-line regulatory citations and said staff would fill out the full review form. “We did provide back to the legislative body a statement ... for each program … with the regulation citations and the statement under each,” Dom said, and agreed to submit the fuller documentation by next week.
The committee directed staff to collect the completed forms and, if the material looked straightforward, circulate the staff summaries to members by e-mail for confirmation instead of calling a new meeting.
Next steps: staff will request completed benefit-and-loan review forms from DOT and other agencies and circulate the documentation to the committee. If questions remain, staff will follow up with the relevant departments and report back.
