A 5675: Relates to gender balance on boards of state and local public authorities; provides that all appointive state and local authorities heretofore or hereafter established by law or resolution shall have recommendations for appointments, or reappointments that are gender balanced.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5675 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 19, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. LEVENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to gender balance in state and local public authorities; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new 2 section 2830 to read as follows: 3 § 2830. Program promoting women to state and local authority boards. 4 1. The legislature finds that there is a need to promote women for 5 recommendation and appointment to state and local authority boards in an 6 effort to reverse a long history of discrimination against women on 7 boards of public authorities. The program proposed by this section would 8 provide for the use of gender as a factor when making recommendations 9 and appointments to state and local authority boards. This section 10 serves to achieve the benefits that come with the important governmental 11 objective of attaining gender diversity on state and local authority 12 boards. 13 2. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have 14 the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires: 15 (a) "Gender balance" means providing women candidates with a prefer- 16 ence when appointing individuals to boards; 17 (b) "Appointing power" means an individual or government or legisla- 18 tive body charged with the responsibility to recommend for appointment 19 or to appoint or reappoint a person or persons to the board of a state 20 or local authority; 21 (c) "Board" means the governing board or governing body or other such 22 governing entity of local and state authorities; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08091-02-5 
 A. 5675 2 1 (d) "Preference" means the act of favoring one person over another 2 that is inversely proportional, provided however, such favoring shall 3 not be dispositive; 4 (e) "Inversely proportional" means the greater the percentage of women 5 on the board the lower the weight of the preference and the lower the 6 percentage of women on the board the greater the weight of the prefer- 7 ence. 8 3. (a) All appointive state and local authorities heretofore or here- 9 after established by law or resolution shall have recommendations for 10 appointments, or reappointments that are gender balanced as provided by 11 this section. 12 (b) Persons shall be recommended for appointment, appointed or reap- 13 pointed to any state or local authority only if that recommendation, 14 appointment or reappointment is gender balanced as provided by this 15 section. 16 4. An appointing power shall make recommendations, appointments and 17 reappointments to state and local authorities created prior to, on or 18 after August first, two thousand twenty-six, in a manner which will 19 ensure a gender balanced appointment or reappointment for each public 20 authority. 21 5. The appointing power shall undertake all efforts necessary to 22 obtain lists of names of qualified candidates to be recommended for 23 appointment to state and local authorities, in furtherance of the 24 advancement of the policy of this section to achieve gender balanced 25 appointments and reappointments to state and local authority boards 26 pursuant to subdivisions three and four of this section. 27 6. Multiple appointing powers charged with the recommendation, 28 appointment or reappointment of individuals to the same state or local 29 public authority shall consult each other in order to comply with the 30 requirements of this section. 31 7. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an individ- 32 ual from completing a term for which the person was appointed, prior to 33 the effective date of this section. 34 8. Each state and local authority shall include the number of 35 appointed or reappointed board members in the last year, the number of 36 women board members appointed or reappointed in the last year, the 37 current number of board members on the board and the gender of such 38 board members in the annual report required pursuant to section twenty- 39 eight hundred of this article. 40 § 2. This act shall take effect August 1, 2026 and shall expire and be 41 deemed repealed August 1, 2036.