Legislature eyes move to paperless governing

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ALBANY — Legislative bills in Albany can be stacked several feet thick on lawmakers’ desks every day of session, voted on, and then dumped mostly unread into trash and recycling bins.

The cost of printing bills alone is $13 million a year. The Legislature’s constant printing of bills is also a big part of a $40 million annual cost in trashing used paper.

Assemblyman James Tedisco of Schenectady County wants to cut that bill down.

He protested the waste during a late budget session in March where he stacked bills so high he couldn’t be seen at his desk.

Now that the Assembly has been wired for the Internet, Tedisco says the next step is to stop printing and reprinting thousands of pages of bills every day.