The New York state Assembly is set to pick Carl Heastie from the Bronx to serve as its next leader.
Democrats who control the chamber unanimously picked Heastie as their nominee for speaker on Monday. The full Assembly is expected to hold its formal vote Tuesday.
Heastie will succeed Sheldon Silver, who resigned his speakership after being charged with taking nearly $4 million in payoffs and kickbacks. Silver held the job, one of the most powerful in state government, for two decades.
The 47-year-old Heastie was first elected in 2000 and has led the Assembly's Labor Committee for the past two years. He is a former budget analyst in the New York City Comptroller's Office.
He has vowed to pursue a series of ethics reforms to limit how much outside pay lawmakers can earn — and require them to report the sources.
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