{"data":{"id":"us-ny/n.y.-senate-rules-rule-8-3","jurisdiction":"us-ny","citation":"N.Y. Senate Rules Rule 8, § 3","heading":"Open Meetings of Standing Committees","body":"§  3. Open Meetings of Standing Committees. a. (1) Standing committees\nshall hold regular meetings at such time and on such day as the Majority\nCoalition Leaders in consultation with the chair and such schedule shall\nbe published one week in advance of the date of such meeting  and  shall\nbe  posted  on the Senate committee board. The attendance of the members\nof the committee shall be recorded at each meeting, and a copy  of  such\nreport  shall  be  filed  with  the Journal Clerk of the Senate and made\navailable to the public. Each chair of a standing committee shall to the\nextent practicable, no later than 3  p.m.  the  Thursday  preceding  the\nregular  meeting,  furnish to the Conference Leaders, and make available\nto each member of such committee, a copy of the agenda of  such  regular\nmeeting  together  with  a  copy of the introducer's memorandum for each\nbill listed on such agenda for such regular meeting. In addition, copies\nof such agenda for such regular  meeting  shall  be  made  available  to\nrepresentatives of the news media and to the general public. However, in\ncase  of  necessity,  the  chair  with consent of the ranking Democratic\nConference member may add no more than  four  items  on  the  agenda  or\ndelete  items  on  the agenda up to 24 hours in advance of the scheduled\nmeeting and members shall be notified of such  additions  or  deletions.\nEach  standing  committee chair shall decide all procedural issues which\narise during meetings of standing committees.\n  (2) Standing committees may hold special meetings in case of necessity\nupon the call of the chair when the announcement is made from the  floor\nduring  session,  or  the  ranking  Democratic  Conference member of the\ncommittee consents thereto, or upon the call of a majority  of  all  the\nmembers thereof, entry of which fact shall be made on the records of the\ncommittee and announced by the Secretary of the Senate.\n  (3)   All   meetings   of  committees  shall  be  open  to  authorized\nrepresentatives of the news media and the general public as observers.\n  (4) All meetings of committees shall be recorded by video and  to  the\nextent  practicable  webcast live. Video of all committee meetings shall\nbe made available on the Senate website and updated daily.\n  (5) Upon the personal vote of a majority  of  all  the  members  of  a\ncommittee, taken in an open meeting pursuant to a motion identifying the\ngeneral  area  or  areas  of the subject or subjects to be considered, a\ncommittee may conduct an executive session of which only members of such\ncommittee are present for the following  enunciated  purposes  provided,\nhowever,  that  no  action  by formal vote shall be taken to appropriate\npublic monies:\n  (a) matters which will imperil the public safety if disclosed;\n  (b) any matter which may disclose the identity of  a  law  enforcement\nagent or informer;\n  (c)  information  relating  to  current  or  future  investigation  or\nprosecution of a criminal offense  which  would  imperil  effective  law\nenforcement if disclosed;\n  (d) discussions regarding proposed, pending or current litigation;\n  (e)  collective negotiations pursuant to article fourteen of the Civil\nService Law;\n  (f) the medical, financial, credit, character or employment history of\nany person or  corporation,  or  matters  leading  to  the  appointment,\nemployment,  promotion,  demotion,  discipline, suspension, dismissal or\nremoval of any person or corporation;\n  (g) the preparation, grading or administration of examinations; and\n  (h) the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real property, but only\nwhen publicity would substantially affect the value of the property.\n  (6) Attendance at an executive  session  shall  be  permitted  to  any\nmember  of  the  committee  and  any  other  persons  authorized  by the\ncommittee.\n  b. (1) Minutes shall be taken at all open meetings of committees which\nshall consist  of  a  record  or  summary  of  all  motions,  proposals,\nresolutions  and  any  other  matter  formally  voted  upon and the vote\nthereon.\n  (2) Minutes shall be taken at executive sessions of any action that is\ntaken by formal vote which shall consist of a record or summary  of  the\nfinal  determination  of  such  action,  and  the date and vote thereon;\nprovided, however, that such summary shall not include any matter  which\nis not required to be made public by \"the freedom of information law\" as\nadded by Article six of the Public Officers Law.\n  (3)  Minutes  of  meetings of all committees shall be available to the\npublic in accordance with the provisions of Article six  of  the  Public\nOfficers  Law,  \"the  freedom  of information law\", and at such time and\nplace  as  prescribed  by  the  Majority  Coalition  Leaders,  provided,\nhowever,  that minutes for executive session meetings shall be available\nto the public within one week from the date of such executive session.\n  c.  The  provisions  of  this  section  except  paragraph   three   of\nsubdivision  a,  and  subdivision  b shall not apply to the Committee on\nRules.\n  d. Committee presentations.  The  chair  of  a  committee  may  invite\ninterested persons to offer a presentation for a given amount of time on\na  bill  on  the  meeting  agenda  with  notice  provided to the ranking\nDemocratic Conference member no less than 72 hours in advance.  Where  a\ncommittee  chair  makes  such an invitation, the ranking member shall be\nafforded an equal number of speakers who may speak for an  equal  amount\nof time. In addition, the ranker, without consent of the chair, shall be\nable  to  schedule 3 committee presentations with notice provided to the\nchair at least 72 hours in advance. The chair shall be afforded an equal\nnumber of speakers who may speak for an equal amount of time.\n  e.  Motion  for  committee  consideration.  No  motion  for  committee\nconsideration  shall  be in order after the first Monday in May.  In the\ncourse of a session year the sponsor of any bill may file,  through  the\nJournal  Clerk,  no more than three motions for committee consideration.\nSuch motions shall be in order forty-five days after  a  bill  has  been\nreferred to such committee. Once a motion for committee consideration is\nfiled,  the  chair  of the committee shall place the bill on a committee\nagenda and schedule a vote on the bill within forty-five  days,  if  the\nforty-five  days  shall  expire  while the senate is in recess, the bill\nshall be placed on the  next  regularly  scheduled  committee  meeting's\nagenda following the end of the forty-five day period.  In the case of a\nbill   that  is  referred  to  a  standing  committee  having  secondary\nreference, the bill shall be considered within the  next  two  committee\nmeetings.","path":["Senate Rules","Rule 8. Standing Committees"],"source_url":"https://legislation.nysenate.gov/api/3/laws/CMS/R8S3","current_through":"2026-09-11","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T19:32:44Z","sha256":"62329fb62448b122289534b9419cdfd69e92377c767e301fa0eb10a93dfc53df","source_id":"us-ny","stale":false,"prev":"us-ny/n.y.-senate-rules-rule-8-2","next":"us-ny/n.y.-senate-rules-rule-8-4"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}