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N,EWYORK SECRETARY
JOSE M. SERRANO
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May 4,2009

3Hon . David Paterson, Governor o(New York

State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
.,

:.. Re: Adoption of an Exkcutiv~ ord~r to address oversight and accountability of stimulu~ investments in
New York State

Dear Governor PaterS,on:

.. We thank you for youJ tirel~ss wQrk navigating New York State through difficult econ6mic times, and we
.. applaud your successfJ..lI eff~rt5 tq make our state a focal point ofthe federa.l stimulu~7package. As such,
;;: we, urge yOll to ensur~ that.fund~made available to the state under the American ReC?very and
~ Reinvestment Act of 2.009 CARRAl are allotted, and disbursed to New York's communitIes in a
- transparent, equita.bl~ and:accountable malJner. '::
- ,. r. " ' ! . •

_ Pr~sident Barack Ob~('na h~s repeatedly sta~ed that these funds must be used to invest in,the country's
~ ec~nomic recovery and that fede.ral overseerS plan to tightly scrutinize how investment declsions are
rt ,...- • •...
? prioritized at the statp. and~local ~evels. Ne~ York's leadership must take pro-active measures to ensure
~ all.stimulu5-rela~ed f~nds ire inv.ested wisely. With that in mind. we ask that you iSSL~ an Executive
Orqer addressing thr~e pri[l1ary i~sues, which we have outlined below and are suppoiled by the
.. mt;!mbers of the New;york §tate ~timulus Oyersight Working Group, a diverse coalition of advocacy and
non-profit organizations. ...

" 1) Jndependent stim&lus monitor: On April 3, California Governor Arnold Schwarzene'gger issued
Executive Order Number S;04-O§, thereby ~reating an independent Inspector Gener<;t1 to conduct
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.. reviews and audits to; ensure sta.te and local government compliance with the federarrequirements of
I fl "" •. •.:
" A~RA and applicable[;;tateJaw aDd to bring maximum public transparency into the oversight of thes~
fU~ds- Among its resSonsibilities: the independent Inspector General will: '"

• Protect the,integrity and accountability of stimulus funds by preventing anif detecting fraud,
waste, and miscorlouct;;,
,...
• Conduct periodic reviei:ws'and au(lits to ensure state and local governmenCcompliance with
the federcJl r~quirement$ of ARRA and applicable state law; :

• Provide ind~pen~ent ~nd objective reports to the Governor, the Legislature, U.S. General
Accountability Office, a~d the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Bo~rd on the activities

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 and findings of the review~ and aud'its, including any identified program and mi:1nagem@nt
problems, as it ~elate~ to u~e of stimulus funds, and recommendations to corre:~ them. These
reRorts shall be.;post~d on ~he Intern~t to provide additional accountability and,transparency to
the public; and _.

.. coo~dinate vlith th~e 8ur~au of Stat~ Audits, the State Controller, the Department of Finance,
and local aUdit6rs a~d comptrollers to identify and deploy resources in a manner to ensure the
highest level ot: review and accounta~i1ity., ~:
"'2) Transparent deCiSio~.maki·ng: We urge Ne~ York State to improve the application a!1d decision-
making process. Opportunities to ~pply for 5~imuluNelatedfunding are not being circulated widely
":eno.ugh to all New Yorkers. As a r~sult, the most up·to-pate information is too often lirr ited to entities
..that have received state money il): the' past Clnd are already "at the table" in Albany. Many of the
.. organization~ in our r~~pective di§tricts report not understanding the categories of, stimulus funding nor
the,criteria by which the Sta'te wlii decide which projects should receive support. We r::skthat you clarify
:. both the categories arid the..criteda in a comprehensive and publicly accessible fashion.
"
~ 3) Online Transpareno/: Th~ web~ite created by your Economic Recovery and Reinves~ment Cabinet is a
powerful tool, but we believe a great deal of work remains to be done. The sheer vohii'l"le of unfiltered
information- a sprea~5heet listing thousands of project submissions - does not necessarily translate to
;: transparency, or fostc~r pugJic participation, and has In fact generated much confusion. We urge you to
_ expand online efforts;; incfl.l.ding an accessible inquiry form, as well as the integration 'of a uniform and
.. efficient tracking proq,edure to fQ.1tow the e~penditure of funds. Moreover, we believe-the state should
.. actively engage with \nforl1Jatiofl:technology experts, especially those who are develf.fping online
• infrastructure at the f~derijlleveJ with the ~ecovery.gov site. The state might also build upon an effort
:' here in New York Cit¥. the ~timulus Tracker~ which has made advances in mapping already approved
'" prl:ljects. Comp,.ehen~ive tr.ackin~ should also include mandates for periodic reporting', with detailed'
.. updates on job creat~~>n aNI ret~ntjon, sch~duled completion, economic impact, an~~nvironmental
~ protection that "drill' dowp" to provide rep,0rting from each recipient of stimulus fu~os. This would
~ include: the name of!the eotity ~nd amoun~ distributed (plus subcontractors); numb~r of jobs created;
;' go.als ~chie~ed; an~ 'iYages,.paid.~lt would allow New Yorkers to help hold these proje~ts accountable by
~ fopowlOg stImulus m~esttYJ!!nt f~nd5 all the,way from t~e U.S. Treasury to, for example, the pothole that
" gets filled on their street
•• corner;:
_ .. : ...
i,,!

~ N~w York is very mu~h th~ birthplace of proactive and responsive state governance, dating back to
'i le~ders like AI Smith~nd FJ<lnkli,r D. Rooseyelt, In the event additional federal stirnu(us funds become

..; a~ailable, Ne~ York ~tate must ~ave in pla~e a system that proves we have invested=laxpayer money
.;; Wisely. At a time whrn th~ country once a&ain faces economic hardship, seeking leaaership and
" dynamism from the p,ubli~secto:r, we belieye New Y.ork is uniquely poised to becorn~:a national model
for accountable, vib¥rnt aQd sp~edy revital,ization, We thank you for your consideration, and offer our
" support and assistance in .the implementation ofthe items we have listed. ,"

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Eric Adams ~. Senator :~ .
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Andrea StewarFCousins
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