ALBANY – Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor (R, Fishkill) said the governor’s proposed legislation to get tough on public corruption is only a first step.
Lalor said the second step “has to be clearing the legislature of leadership that has tolerated corruption,” and that should start at the top of the Assembly with Democrat Speaker Sheldon Silver stepping down.
The freshman lawmaker said there should be term limits on the legislature and those in its leadership positions.
Lalor also called for the end to member items.
“At the heart of every scandal is always member items, or pork, or whatever they call it, in New York State,” he said. “That’s what Malcolm Smith was getting out in Spring Valley. That’s what City Councilman Halloran was doing in New York City; he had a pool of money that he could throw around and he was using it not for the good of the city or the state but for his own benefit.”
Lalor said as long as Silver is running the Assembly, it will be difficult to get meaningful reforms.