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Albany, NY – A longtime appointee of Governor Andrew Cuomo has been chosen to police ethics in the governor's administration, the Legislature and lobbying. WAMC's Dave Lucas reports...
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics says Thursday it chose Ellen Biben for the $148,000-a-year job.
Biben will step down from the state inspector general's job to become executive director of the new ethics board.
She was appointed inspector general by Cuomo and had held jobs under him dating to Cuomo's time as attorney general, when she led the probe of the pay-to-play scandal under then-Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
The League of Women Voters applauds the decision.
David Grandeau, who has been critical of the ethics board and is the former state lobbying watchdog, called Biben "superb appointment."
Dave Lucas, WAMC News.
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