New York Bill Requires Public Body Training on Open Meetings and FOIL
Summary
New York Senate Bill S09603, introduced for the 2025-2026 legislative session, proposes requiring members of public bodies to complete at least two hours of training on the state's open meetings and freedom of information laws. The bill specifically mandates one hour dedicated to open meetings law and one hour to freedom of information law.
What changed
New York Senate Bill S09603, introduced on March 27, 2026, mandates that members of public bodies complete a minimum of two hours of training. This training must include one hour on New York's open meetings law and one hour on its freedom of information law. The bill also extends this requirement to certain local, city, county, town, and village public body members.
Compliance officers for New York public bodies should monitor the progress of this bill. If enacted, it will necessitate the development or procurement of training programs to ensure all relevant members meet the two-hour requirement, with specific allocations for open meetings and FOIL. The bill is currently in the Senate Ethics and Internal Governance Committee, indicating it is in the early stages of the legislative process.
What to do next
- Monitor the legislative progress of NY Senate Bill S09603.
- Prepare to develop or procure training on New York's open meetings and freedom of information laws if the bill is enacted.
Source document (simplified)
NY S09603 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly
New York Senate Bill 9603
NY State Legislature page for S09603
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Status
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: Introduced on March 27 2026 - 25% progression
Action: 2026-03-27 - REFERRED TO ETHICS AND INTERNAL GOVERNANCE
Pending: Senate Ethics and Internal Governance Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [HTML]
Summary
Requires members of a public body to complete a minimum of two hours of training, with one hour on the state's open meetings law and one hour on freedom of information law; requires certain local, city, county, town and village public body members to complete such training as well.
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Title
Requires members of a public body to complete a minimum of two hours of training, with one hour on the state's open meetings law and one hour on freedom of information law; requires certain local, city, county, town and village public body members to complete such training as well.
Sponsors
| Sen. Shelley Mayer [D] |
History
| Date | Chamber | Action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-27 | Senate | REFERRED TO ETHICS AND INTERNAL GOVERNANCE |
Same As/Similar To
A07552 (Same As) 2026-01-07 - referred to governmental operations
New York State Sources
| Type | Source |
| --- | --- |
| Summary | https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S9603 |
| Text | https://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=S09603&term=2025&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Text=Y&Committee%26nbspVotes=Y&Floor%26nbspVotes=Y#S09603 |
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