STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 47 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 4, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CAHILL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to authorize the commissioner of education to design and imple- ment a biennial contest to name an official Empire state children's book The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Empire state children's book project. 1. The commissioner 2 of education, or his or her designee, is hereby authorized and directed 3 to design and implement the Empire state children's book project. Such 4 project design shall include, but not be limited to, the following 5 components: 6 (a) Such commissioner or his or her designee shall develop the crite- 7 ria for and a process for determining the five books which will be 8 considered official children's book finalists. 9 (b) Such commissioner or his or her designee shall design a statewide 10 contest in which all elementary school students shall vote, from among 11 the five finalists, for the official Empire state children's book. 12 (c) Such process for choosing five finalists and such statewide 13 contest shall be conducted by the education department every two years. 14 2. The official Empire state children's book shall be highlighted as 15 such and made available for display and sale during the period of its 16 biennial reign at all public elementary schools and their libraries, 17 public libraries, state sponsored functions, fairs and events for chil- 18 dren, the state museum gift shop, and on the state website. Any and all 19 proceeds collected by the education department in the sale of such offi- 20 cial state children's book shall be used to offset the future costs of 21 the Empire state children's book project. 22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, that the first 23 official children's book shall be chosen on or before the first of Octo- 24 ber, 2019. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01320-01-7