🏛️ The NY 21st Century Transparency & Tech Reform Act

Objective:

Drag New York State into the 21st century by modernizing how government communicates, delivers services, and empowers citizens — with tech that protects privacy, promotes transparency, and restores public trust. This includes launching NY Social, a state-run, censorship-free social platform for local civic engagement and real-time access to government updates.

🔑 Key Provisions

1. NY Digital Civic Hub

• One secure login gives citizens access to:
  • Family Court updates
  • School curriculum transparency
  • Public budget tools
  • FOIL request tracking
  • Voting and ID resources
  • NY Social (see below)

2. NY Social: The State’s First Civic Network

• A state-built, nonpartisan social platform for:
  • Verified government announcements
  • Constituent feedback & polling
  • Local neighborhood discussion boards
  • Community safety alerts and bulletin services
  • Real-time livestreams of public meetings

Built in the spirit of BETTR, but managed through a public-private firewall to prevent censorship, political abuse, or data selling.

3. Live Government Portal Transparency

• Real-time dashboards for:
  • Budgets (statewide and local)
  • Legislative votes
  • Court case status (where legally permitted)
  • School board decisions
  • Arrest reports, police audits, and incident logs

4. NY Open Source Innovation Zones

• Convert unused government buildings into Tech Revitalization Centers:
  • Public-private innovation labs
  • Free code camps and AI workshops
  • Cybersecurity training for veterans and job-seekers

5. Digital Privacy Bill for All New Yorkers

• Ban on biometric surveillance without consent
• All public data collection must be opt-in
• Independent audit boards for every major data repository

🛠️ Enforcement & Implementation

• Lead Agencies: NYS ITS, Office of the State Comptroller, and the newly formed Office of Public Tech & Civic Innovation (OPTCI)
• Funded through consolidation of redundant IT contracts, leases from Operation Ghost Town, and a voluntary “Tech for Transparency” bond initiative
• Local governments incentivized through grant-matching programs to adopt the NY Digital Civic Hub framework

⚠️ Why It Matters

• NYS ranks in the bottom half of states for digital service accessibility and FOIL response times
• Trust in government is at historic lows — but technology can create accountability and community at scale
• People are tired of waiting on hold and being silenced online. Let’s give them BETTR tools that actually work — not more bureaucratic sludge

🚫 Opposition & Our Response

Opposition from:

• Big Tech lobbyists
• Political parties benefitting from opaque backroom deals
• Bureaucrats afraid of job accountability

Our Response:

• Transparency is not optional. The people fund this system — it should serve them, not confuse or censor them
• NY will lead America in secure, ethical, and open-source governance

🔚 Conclusion

This is not about apps. It’s about freedom.
NY 21 isn’t just the future — it’s a mandate. Under my administration, New York will become the most digitally open, locally engaged, and censorship-free state in America.

🗽 I’m not a good candidate. I’m the right one.
📍 https://jsa2026.com
☎️ (516) 586-0660 | ✉️ jaysarnold@icloud.com