Two area state Assemblymen are against legislation that has been signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to slow down the reorganizational meetings for political committees each year.

A.8227/S.6421B requires county committees to hold their organization meeting between Sept. 17 and Oct. 6 following the June primary, a change supporters say is needed because of the state’s move to an earlier primary date in June. The June primary is when people are elected to fill local political party committee members. Holding reorganizational meetings in the middle of the summer was too difficult for those who want to spend time traveling rather than organizing local political parties.

Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, said pushing the dates back into the fall could create headaches over who controls the local party’s funding, particularly if the party leadership changes, in an election season. There is also language in the bill that clarifies that authority is vested in the old committee until the end of the organizational meeting, when legal authority transfers to the new leadership.

“Here’s the problem you have to face if we adopt this bill,” Goodell said. “You could have a party fight over who’s controlling the local party and you could have the new group elected unanimously or nearly unanimously in June, but even though they’re elected in June, this bill would say you can’t organize until September with the general election just a few weeks away. “So you could have the old management of your party, your local county committee or whoever the committee is, you could have the old group in charge of all of the party apparatus, including the funding, all of the staff and all of the resources, right up until just before the election. Even though it is awkward to have an organizational meeting in July, if you have an internal there is no way you want to keep the old group in charge until just before the election.”

Both Goodell and Assemblyman Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, voted against the bill. It was approved 103-43 in the state Assembly and 42-20 in the state Senate. It has been signed into law by Cuomo.