Bill, Veto and Recall Jackets
When a bill passes both houses of the New York State Legislature, the Governor's Counsel's Office collects memoranda and letters discussing the pros and cons of the bill. Materials collected may include a sponsor's memo justifying the lawmaker's introduction of the bill, counsels' statements, State agencies' official positions, study groups' comments, as well as the opinions of bar associations, lobbyists, corporations and private individuals.
These are submitted to the Governor along with the proposed legislation for approval, veto, or recall. Recalls are bills sent back to the Legislature to correct a defect, at the request of either the Governor or Legislature, but then are not returned to the Governor's Office for approval or disapproval.
Depending on the Governor's decision, the materials collected become parts of different "jacket" collections. Bills signed into law are placed in the Governor's Bill Jacket Collection; vetoed bills, in the Governor's Veto Jacket Collection; and recalled bills, in the Governor's Recall Jacket Collection. These collections are generally sent by the Governor's Counsel's Office to the New York State Archives in the summer after the legislative session has ended. Many of these jackets have been copied in microform and are available from the State Library.
Source: New York State Library, http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/billjack.htm
To obtain a NYS Bill Jacket:
- Browse NYS Library Digital Collections of Bill Jackets - http://iarchives.nysed.gov/PubImageWeb/listCollections.jsp?id=68007
- Scope is all Bill Jackets from 1995 through 2011.
- Browse NYS Unified Court System's Digital Collections of Bill Jackets - http://www.olicm.nycourts.gov/Presto?uc=BillJacketView|99889933
- Scope is selected Bill Jackets from 1918 to 2012.
- If Bill Jacket is unavailable at either site, request it from UCS Library Materials Document Delivery Service - http://www.nycourts.gov/lawlibraries/document-service.shtml
- If Bill Jacket is relatively current, contact the Legislative Secretary to the Governor's Counsel, Executive Chambers, State Capitol, Albany, New York 12248, (518) 474-7182 to find out if it is available.