S 986: Directs the department of civil service to conduct a study on competitive examinations for public employment held by the state department of civil service and by municipal commissions to determine whether the contents of such examinations have a discriminatory effect on minority examinees; requires a report on such findings to be delivered to the governor and legislature.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 986 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BROUK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to direct the department of civil service to conduct a study on competitive examinations for public employment to determine whether the contents of such examinations have a discriminatory effect on minority examinees; and providing for the repeal of such provision upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. For the purposes of this act the following terms shall have 2 the following meanings: 3 (a) "agency" means any department, board, bureau, commission, divi- 4 sion, office, council, committee, public benefit corporation or public 5 authority at least one of whose members is appointed by the governor. 6 (b) "competitive examination" means competitive examinations for 7 public employment held by the state department of civil service and by 8 municipal commissions, as such term is defined by section two of the 9 civil service law. 10 § 2. (a) The department of civil service shall conduct a study on 11 competitive examinations for public employment held by the state depart- 12 ment of civil service and by municipal commissions to determine whether 13 the contents of such examinations have a discriminatory effect on minor- 14 ity examinees. 15 (b) Such study shall include, but not be limited to: 16 (i) the total number of minority and non-minority competitive examina- 17 tion examinees; 18 (ii) a comparison of competitive examination results for minority 19 examinees compared to non-minority examinees; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02190-01-5 
 S. 986 2 1 (iii) an agency by agency, and municipality by municipality, breakdown 2 containing the percentage of minority employees hired each year compared 3 to non-minorities; 4 (iv) an investigation on the questions and other contents of compet- 5 itive examinations to determine whether any such questions or other 6 contents have or could have a discriminatory effect on minority exami- 7 nees compared to non-minority examinees, and if so, the nature of such 8 discriminatory effect; 9 (v) an investigation of ancillary factors contributing to competitive 10 examinations having a discriminatory effect on minority examinees 11 compared to non-minority examinees, including, but not limited to acces- 12 sibility to competitive examination locations, times competitive exam- 13 inations are held, accessibility to competitive examination preparation 14 courses and study materials, and technological barriers; and 15 (vi) any other information the president of the department of civil 16 service shall deem necessary. 17 § 3. The department of civil service may request, and is authorized to 18 receive, any information from any agency that is relevant and material 19 to the completion of the study under section two of this act. Such 20 information received by the department of civil service shall be subject 21 to the same requirements for confidentiality and limitations on use, if 22 any, as are applicable to such agency's use of such information and may 23 only be utilized by the department and the commissioner of civil service 24 for purposes authorized by this act. 25 § 4. No later than one year after the effective date of this act, the 26 state department of civil service shall deliver a report of its findings 27 of the study conducted pursuant to section two of this act to the gover- 28 nor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, 29 the minority leader of the senate, and the minority leader of the assem- 30 bly. The contents of such report shall not contain the personally iden- 31 tifiable information of any individual. 32 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be 33 deemed repealed two years after such date.