Section 305. Use of electronic records

1. In accordance with rules and
  regulations  promulgated  by  the  electronic  facilitator,   government
  entities  are  authorized  and  empowered  to  produce, receive, accept,
  acquire, record, file, transmit, forward, and store information  by  use
  of  electronic  means.  If  any  such  government entity uses electronic
  records, it must also ensure that anyone who uses the services  of  such
  government  entity may obtain access to records as permitted by statute,
  and receive copies of such records in paper form in accordance with fees
  prescribed by statute. No person shall be required to submit or file any
  record electronically to  any  government  entity  except  as  otherwise
  provided  by  law.  Government  entities  that obtain, store, or utilize
  electronic records shall not refuse to accept hard copy,  non-electronic
  forms,  reports,  and  other  paper  documents  for submission or filing
  except as otherwise provided by law.
    2. A government entity shall have  the  authority  to  dispose  of  or
  destroy  a  record in accordance with the arts and cultural affairs law,
  regardless of format or media.
    3. An electronic record shall have the same force and effect as  those
  records not produced by electronic means.
    4.   The  director  shall  study  how  electronic  documents  and  the
  mechanisms and processes for obtaining access to and reading  electronic
  data  can  be created, maintained, exchanged, and preserved by the state
  in a manner that  encourages  appropriate  government  control,  access,
  choice,   interoperability,  and  vendor  neutrality.  The  study  shall
  consider, but not be limited  to,  the  policies  of  other  states  and
  nations,  management  guidelines  for  state archives as they pertain to
  electronic documents, public access, expected storage life of electronic
  documents, costs of implementation,  and  savings.  The  director  shall
  solicit  comments  regarding  the  creation,  maintenance, exchange, and
  preservation of electronic documents by  the  state  from  stakeholders,
  including  but  not limited to, the office of the state comptroller, the
  office of the attorney  general,  the  state  archives,  and  the  state
  historian.  The director shall also solicit comments from members of the
  public. The director shall report findings and  recommendations  to  the
  governor,  the  speaker  of the assembly, and the temporary president of
  the senate on or before January fifteenth, two thousand eight.