A bill that would amend the Executive Law to ensure the preservation of the records of New York’s governors has recently passed the Senate and is making its way through the Assembly. This bill (S6846/A9928) will ensure that the records of a sitting governor will be transferred to the New York State Archives at the end of each administration. Governors’ records provide insight into an incumbent’s thinking and decision-making process, but in this state they are neither systematically preserved nor accessible to New York’s citizens.

Even though New York did not have a state archives until the 1970s, many records of our state and colonial governments have been preserved. Through the foresight of our state’s founders and each succeeding iteration of state government since 1630, more than 200 million records documenting New York’s history have been collected and tell a proud (if not sometimes challenged) story of the Empire State.

Despite the good intentions of its creators, New York’s archives and records law, which is comprehensive with respect to state agencies, the Legislature and the Judiciary, is limited in its ability to safeguard the records of our governors, lieutenant governors and executive-chamber staff. New York is one of the few states in the country that has no effective statutory oversight of its own executives’ records, which are governed by an 1858 law that effectively yields to the governor complete control over their disposition.

Over time, this has led to a situation in which each respective governor has determined the final disposition of his own records. Many gubernatorial records have left the custody of state government, some have been deposited in private facilities, some have been taken home with the governor and some have been destroyed and therefore lost to history forever. In a few cases, however, prescient governors have transferred their records to the State Archives where they are professionally maintained in a state-of-the-art facility, preserved and made available for future public-policy and historical research.

The governor of New York is the most important elected public official in the state, vested with executive power to approve legislation, appoint agency heads, direct government operations, propose the state budget, allocate resources and ensure that state laws are faithfully executed and public order is maintained. It is, therefore, our contention that the records of the governor’s office are a critically important asset of the state.

The governor’s records must be properly managed and preserved in order to record official transactions, document decisions and support administrative functions. After the close of an administration, the records become an indispensable source of information about public policy and initiatives as well as key documentation of the legacy of that administration. The records of the governor’s office are the best evidence of a governor’s activities and accomplishments.

New York is often in the forefront of public debate on issues and policies that have national ramifications, and the records of New York’s governors reflect the state’s preeminent position in the national arena. The records of our governors must have the same assurance of continuing professional stewardship and public availability as do the records of every agency and department in state government.

New York has an opportunity to ensure that, from this year forward, the citizens of this State will have a permanent record of the actions of its governors. This bill goes a long way to buttressing transparency and accountability in state government. It would be a shame if we allowed the current situation to continue, thereby sanctioning the ongoing dispossession of this important segment of New York’s history. 


--
Christine Ward is the New York State Archivist.