New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued the following statement today following the Governor signing legislation which statutorily restores the Office of the State Comptroller’s review of certain state contracts which had previously been removed. The legislation (A.7925-A/S.6809-A) was sponsored by State Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick and Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski.

“My office’s independent contract review is an essential and important deterrent to waste, fraud and abuse in the state’s procurement process. By reviewing contracts before they are awarded, my office protects taxpayers and state agencies by uncovering significant fiscal and integrity issues and helps to ensure a level playing field for vendors. By signing this legislation Gov. Hochul has taken a tremendous step to bring more transparency and more accountability to state government. I applaud her decision.

“I also want to thank State Sen. Reichlin-Melnick and Assemblyman Zebrowski for their leadership on restoring oversight and transparency of state spending. I want to thank the good government groups and others who fought so hard to restore our oversight. This is a win for good government and taxpayers.”

Reports

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Track state and local government spending at Open Book New York. Under State Comptroller DiNapoli’s open data initiative, search millions of state and local government financial records, track state contracts, and find commonly requested data.