New York State Public-benefit Corporations - Public Authority Governance

Public Authority Governance

Public benefit corporations and public authorities are controlled by boards of directors made up of political appointees. Board members have fixed terms and are, at least in theory, considered to be more independent of political influence than elected politicians and appointed agency heads.

Board members and employees of public authorities usually are not considered to be state employees, but are rather employees of the authority. Ciulla v. State, 77 N.Y.S.2d 545 (N.Y. Ct. Cl. 1948). However, public authority employees are covered by the ethics regulations included in section 74 of the Public Officers Law, and the Public Authorities Accountability Act of 2005 imposed additional ethics requirements on board members of some public authorities. Importantly, authority board members are now required to attend training sessions on ethics and governance issues.