Assemblymember Aravella Simotas announced that on the first day of the 2017 legislative session in Albany, she was appointed to head the powerful Administrative Regulations Review Commission (ARRC), by NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. The Commission is a bi-partisan watchdog over every state agency’s rules and regulatory activities to make sure they are legal and effective. State agency regulations and rules have the force of law and dictate how an agency carries out its mandate. This can and does have a powerful impact on small businesses, on people from all walks of life and on the economic and environmental health of communities.

“It is an honor to serve as the ARRC’s Chair and I thank Speaker Heastie for this appointment. My goal as Chair is to make sure that state agency rules are rational and that agency operations serve the public interest, not special interests or administrative convenience,” said Assemblymember Simotas.

It is also the job of the Commission to weigh in when agencies rulemaking is done unfairly, without consulting stakeholders or is done in a manner that hinders public comment. The Commission’s work touches virtually every state agency and program.

According to Assemblymember Simotas, an important priority this year will be monitoring changes happening in Washington, D.C., under the Trump administration, which could have far-reaching effects on New Yorkers. “I will work to ensure that New Yorkers do not suffer the consequences of ill-advised policy changes coming from Federal agencies,” Assemblymember Simotas stated.

Agency rulemaking activities – proposed, adopted and emergency – are reported in the New York State Register, which is available on the NYS Department of State’s website: http://www.dos.ny.gov/info/register.htm and in many public libraries.