A proposed bill would help ensure that contractors conducting business with New York state agencies are held to “high ethical standards” while performing important governmental services.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is proposing the legislation and announced details in a news release Wednesday.
DiNapoli’s proposal would establish “clear, nondisclosure standards” for contractors in order to protect the public interest, he said in the news release.
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The bill would also subject many state contractors to ethics provisions similar to those of state employees.
“While the majority of contractors deliver services with integrity, wrong-doers could use their positions for personal financial gain, accept inappropriate gifts, or inappropriately negotiate for certain jobs. State employees are subject to comprehensive ethical standards but such standards don’t apply to state-agency contractors. The goal of this new bill is to ensure the integrity of government operations by requiring contractors to adhere to the same high principles we expect of state employees,” DiNapoli said in the news release.
New York state employs about 9,000 contractors and expects to pay them more than $940 million in the current fiscal year, according to data published with the 2014-15 state budget.
The proposal addresses two categories of contractor employees working directly on New York state business: those performing “inherently governmental and mission critical” work and those handling contracts containing “information risk,” DiNapoli said.
In carrying out the day-to-day tasks for state agencies and public authorities, contractors often perform government functions and use sensitive or personal information.
Contractors could misuse the information, DiNapoli contends, potentially harming important interests such as the privacy of individuals, commercial-business proprietary rights, or security and law enforcement.
Any contractor negligence or misconduct, including the misuse or dissemination of personal data, could have a “significant” effect on the government’s ability to perform its primary functions, potentially resulting in the fraudulent use of taxpayer dollars, damaged reputation, and loss of public trust, according to DiNapoli.
DiNapoli’s proposal requires that state contracts with outside businesses handling sensitive governmental business or information prohibit contractors and their employees from any having conflicts of interest with respect to their state contracts.
It would also mandate contractors to certify that they have an executed nondisclosure agreement for every individual employee as a condition of access to private and sensitive information.
DiNapoli’s bill would also require that agreements between contractors and third parties protect state agency data; provide biannual ethics training for contractors and their employees; and that contractors immediately notify the state of any organizational or personal conflicts of interest, and face consequences or penalties for violations.
Additionally, vendors whose contract is valued at $5 million or more and lasts at least 120 days must have a written code of business ethics and conduct.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
