NY Voters To Decide On Digital Legislation

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- If New York voters approve proposition No. 2 on the ballot next week, their 213 legislators will join the digital age. Their desks in the ornate chambers of the Capitol will have computers instead of thick stacks of bills they're supposed to read.

Other states have already made such efforts, but New York's change has required a number of hurdles because the state constitution requires bills to be printed and "upon the desks" of lawmakers for three days before they can be passed.

The three-day "aging" period will still exist.

The change is expected to save millions of dollars in printing and many trees. Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, says the savings would be $53 million a year.

But there are concerns, including putting controls on the computers so nobody's posting on Facebook or playing digital poker when they're supposed to be making laws.

Also, some lawmakers have resisted past attempts to go digital because of the loss of jobs in the printing operation.

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