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New York State Assembly Sub-Committee on Affirmative Action Correspondence, Reports, and Testimony on Work Force Composition and Affirmative Action in State and Local Government

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Overview of the Records

Arrangement

The series consists of 3 subseries: 1. Statistical Profiles of Work Force Composition in County Governments and Questionnaires on State Agency Affirmative Action Programs; 2. Hearing Testimony and Reports on State Agency Affirmative Action Programs; and 3. Subcommittee Correspondence and Final Report.

Administrative History

The New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Governmental Operations' Subcommittee on Affirmative Action researched, compiled information and reported on affirmative action as it related to the employment of women, minorities, Vietnam Era veterans and the disabled in New York State government from 1981-1986.

In 1985, the subcommittee undertook an investigation of the "current crisis surrounding affirmative action in the State of New York." The investigation was partly in response to continuing complaints of the ineffectiveness of government affirmative action programs (especially in the area of employment of Hispanics) and the perceived need for changes in legislation to improve them and partly in response to the realization that the Reagan Administration was working to dismantle many of the federal affirmative action programs. New York, the subcommittee felt, would have to strengthen its own programs to lessen the negative impact of weakened federal guidelines.

The research was accomplished by obtaining completed questionnaires from state agencies and local governments describing the composition of the New York's government work force and by collecting the comprehensive affirmative action program plans and policy documents of state agencies. The Subcommittee also held public hearings in 1982, 1984 and 1985 to investigate State agencies' affirmative action efforts on behalf of women, ethnic minorities and the disabled.

Material from all these sources was compiled and the recommendations of the committee were summarized in a 243-page report, "Affirmative Action: The Crisis-Review of the Current Status of Affirmative Action Policies in the State of New York," May 1986. The report categorically states that while there had been good progress in New York at the state government level in terms of women, blacks, the handicapped and Vietnam Veterans, "the evidence also clearly demonstrated the complete failure of the past twenty years of affirmative action in terms of Latino New Yorkers."

During the span of this series, Assemblyman Victor L. Robles and then Assemblywoman Cynthia Jenkins served as chairs of the subcommittee. The subcommittee ceased operations in 1986.

Scope and Content Note

The information in this series pertains to employment in state agencies and institutions and in New York City and county governments. The records primarily consist of statistical profiles, reports, correspondence, hearing testimony, and completed questionnaires on the composition of the New York's government work force. The records include plans and procedures of state government agencies for implementing comprehensive affirmative action programs. Also included here is the June 1986 report, "Affirmative Action: The Crisis, Review of the Current Status of Affirmative Action Policies in the State of New York" (B3F2) which summarizes the Subcommittee on Affirmative Action's work. The report contains nearly all the important statistics gathered during the investigation and concludes, "there had been good progress in New York at the state government level in terms of women, Blacks, the handicapped, and Vietnam Veterans… but the evidence also clearly demonstrated the complete failure of the past twenty years of affirmative action in terms of Latino New Yorkers" (B2F20).

Alternate Formats Available

Items Online

New York State Archives Digital Collections

Correspondence, reports and testimony on work force composition and affirmative action in state and local government, 1981-1986

Related Material

B0546 New York State Dept. of Civil Service Merit System Affirmative Action Office files, contains related records.

Other Finding Aids

Available at Repository

A Spanish version of this finding aid is available.

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.

Access Terms

Detailed Description

Subseries 1: Statistical Profiles of Work Force Composition in County Governments and Questionnaires on State Agency Affirmative Action Programs

Scope and Content Note:

This subseries consists of completed statistical profile forms (either the EEO-4 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission State or Local Government Information Form or the Workforce Analysis as of May 5, 1985 Form) that were returned to the Subcommittee on Affirmative Action by twenty-two counties and numerous state agencies. The profiles divide the work force by federal job categories: professional, paraprofessional, technical, office/clerical, skilled craft, service/maintenance, and protective services. Each of these categories is further divided into employee categories: sex, ethnic group (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Other), Vietnam Era veteran, and disabled. For each of these job and employee categories, the profiles list total number of employees, and percentage of the total work force. These profiles were completed by government personnel officials or affirmative action officers. Also included in this subseries are completed questionnaires pertaining to the administration of affirmative action programs in over seventy state agencies. These questionnaires provide information on each state agency's affirmative action program including the agency's affirmative action committee makeup, affirmative action program implementation, publicity efforts, recruitment, special assistance for employees, and procedures for handling complaints. These questionnaires were sent to agencies by the Subcommittee on Affirmative Action as part of its investigation and were used by it to compile information prior to its fall 1985 hearings. The questionnaires were completed by administrative or affirmative action officers from each agency.

Arrangement:

The county profiles are arranged alphabetically by county name. The state agency profiles are arranged loosely by agency code number, then by year. The code numbers and corresponding agencies are listed in a document in B1F23. There is no discernible arrangement for the Affirmative Action Program questionnaires.

  

Subseries 2: Subcommittee on Affirmative Action Hearings Testimony and Reports on State Agency Affirmative Action Programs

Scope and Content Note:

Hearing testimony given before the subcommittee by state agency heads in 1982 and 1984 describes each agency's affirmative action efforts on behalf of women, ethnic minorities, and the disabled. There are also a small number of agency work force profiles and other documents created for the 1982 hearings. Although many agencies included Hispanic workforce statistics in their reports, the Division of Criminal Justice, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and especially the Department of Correctional Services' Agenor Castro specifically highlighted their strategies to reach Hispanics and to include them in their workforces. Additional testimony in this subseries (B2F1-3) was presented at the three subcommittee hearings in Rochester, Albany, and New York City (October – November 1985). These hearings investigated the effectiveness of New York State's affirmative action programs and whether legislation should be considered to require local governments to implement affirmative action plans. The 1985 testimony is principally from state agency heads. These officials describe the implementation of their agencies' affirmative action programs, the effectiveness of these programs and their plans to meet statewide employment guidelines. The testimony of five of the state agencies specifically addresses Hispanic New Yorkers including the Departments of Environmental Conservation, Correctional Services and Transportation; the New York State Housing Finance Agency; and the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. New York City Mayor Edward Koch submitted a statement concerning the lack of Latinos on the city's School Board (B2F4). No one from the Governor Mario Cuomo's Office for Hispanic Affairs provided testimony. There is also 1985 testimony in this subseries from local government officials, business organizations, and affirmative action advocate groups. These speakers, among them representatives from women's groups and the Black, Hispanic, and disabled communities, describe the shortcomings of existing affirmative action programs and make recommendations for legislation to improve the hiring of underrepresented groups. According to a post-hearing letter (B2F4) speakers at the New York City hearing were made to wait to present their testimonies until after all the state agency representatives had taken their turns. The correspondence in these files primarily documents hearing administration, responses to requests for affirmative action plans and statistics relevant to the hearings or concerns of the minority communities which the affirmative action initiatives were designed to reach. The files contain at least four letters from representatives of the Hispanic community: one calls attention to evidence (with charts and a checklist) that "Puerto Rican and other Hispanics are grossly underrepresented in all levels of public and private sector employment," and another includes a copy of an article from Public Affairs Tribune about the failure of NYS Executive Order 40.1 as it relates to the Hispanic workforce (B3F10, 12). The files also contain a 43-page report entitled "Mayor Koch and Puerto Rican-Latino Community Representation on New York City Board of Education (Documents) January – February 1986" by the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy, Inc. (B2F4). The Coalition for Latino Representation on the Board of Education produced a similar albeit shorter response (B2F4). The clippings and press releases in this subseries augment the background information gathered by the Subcommittee on Affirmative Action as it prepared for its hearings and drafted its final report. Three clippings address Hispanic issues and a press release touts the establishment of a Governor's Office for Hispanic Affairs (B3F11, 14). The remaining files in this subseries are reports relating to the affirmative action efforts of three specific agencies: the State Education Department, the New York City Equal Employment Opportunity Program, and the State Department of Taxation and Finance. Although women and Blacks were specifically mentioned by all three agencies, only the City's report mentioned Hispanic concerns (B2F9). Two additional reports make use of statistics to bolster arguments concerning the failure of affirmative action as it relates to Hispanic New Yorkers. One, the eleven-page "Affirmative Action Marshall Plan" written by Louis A. Cardona (B3F11), specifically addresses the situation at the New York State Department of Civil Service. The other is the thirty-two page "New York State Latinos: An Ignored Minority – A Critique of the August 8, 1985 Report of the Governor's Advisory Committee for Hispanic Affairs" prepared by the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy, Inc. (B3F14).

Arrangement:

The testimony is arranged roughly by hearing date or alphabetically by topic. The 1985 hearings occurred in Rochester on October 15th, in Albany on October 29th, and in New York City on November 12th.

  

Subseries 3: Subcommittee Correspondence and Final Report

Scope and Content Note:

The correspondence in this subseries primarily relates to the workforce composition statistics of state agencies and these agencies' affirmative action programs. Attached to many of the letters are charts summarizing agency workforce composition for 1983-1985. These charts are divided by occupational category and provide information on employee composition (males/females, ethnic groups, and handicapped) in relation to the work force as a whole. The correspondence files also include a draft 1985 report by the United Commission of Civil Rights on set-aside programs for women and minorities and an annotated version of a 1982 report by Angelo Falcón of the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy entitled "Puerto Rican and Latino State Government in NY: The Failure of Affirmative Action" (B3F6). Two versions of the Subcommittee on Affirmative Action's 1986 report, "Affirmative Action: The Crisis, Review of the Current Status of Affirmative Action Policies in the State of New York," are included in this subseries: a 243-page bound version (B3F2) and an unbound version (B2F20-B3F1). The report summarizes the subcommittee's investigation into affirmative action progress in the state, New York City, and selected county governments and is based on the information gathered from hearing testimony, reports, questionnaires, and statistical work force profiles. Included in the report are affirmative action policy statements by members of the subcommittee, background on legislation relating to New York's affirmative action programs including a legal brief for a 1984 United States Supreme Court Case reinforcing the need for federal affirmative action programs, statistics from state agencies summarizing 1983-1985 work force profiles, work force profiles for 1985 from New York City and from selected county governments, and copies of proposed legislation designed to protect existing affirmative action programs and to establish new programs where needed. Of note is "Attachment III, Part II" of the 1986 Subcommittee on Affirmative Action's report entitled "Latino New Yorkers and Affirmative Action" which, according to its introduction, details the "problems of Latino New Yorkers in terms of public employment and demonstrates quite graphically the need to extend the requirement for affirmative action to all levels of government in New York State" (B2F22).

Arrangement:

The correspondence is roughly arranged by date. There are two versions of the report "Affirmative Action: The Crisis." One version is unbound and can be found in B2F20 – B3F1. The second version, a bound copy of the same report, can be found in B3F2. Neither is indexed.