December 1st was the deadline for all state agencies to comply with Governor Paterson’s Executive Order 17, which among other things, mandated:
“On or before December 1, 2009, each state agency shall review its regulations and report to the Secretary to the Governor …… on any proposed changes to regulations which could reduce the impact of existing mandates on local governments and generate property tax relief for New York State property taxpayers.”
So I made a Freedom of Information Act request to the Lake George Park Commission. Here is their response to my request for this information:
“The report of the Lake George Park Commission to the Secretary to the Governor pursuant to Executive Order No. 17 is not completed and is expected to be available in 21 days.”
Executive Order 17 also requires that any proposed mandate which is offered by a state agency must be accompanied by a fiscal impact statement which estimates the costs to local governments.
I also requested in the same Freedom of Information Act request the information submitted to the Governor’s office as it pertained to the proposed stream corridor regulations. The Lake George Park Commission responded that this information was exempt from being released to the public.
“Information submitted to the Governor’s Secretary in regards to the Stream Corridor Regulations are intra-agency drafts which do not represent a final agency policy or position.”
Interesting.