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Blair Horner: The 2017 Legislative Session Begins, What Will Be The Rules?

This week, lawmakers return to Albany to kick off the 2017 legislative session.  For the vast majority of state legislators, it is the beginning of a new session, for the newly elected lawmakers, it is the beginning of a new career.

For New Yorkers, like the first day of school, it is the beginning of hope that the state’s problems will be addressed.

The first order of business for the state Senate and the state Assembly will be approval of the rules that each House will follow.  As in any other institution, it is the rules that can drive decisions.  In public bodies, the rules also ensure public accountability and overall fairness in how policymaking is conducted.

New York’s legislative process has been knocked for its concentration of power in each House’s leadership and the often brazen way in which that leadership controls the flow of legislation and runs roughshod over the rank-and-file.

The first opportunity legislators have to determine their ability to influence the process will be in their vote on the rules of each House.  While the Houses differ in their rules, they are more or less the same when it comes to the concentration of power.

The power granted to the leadership stems, at least to some extent, from of power of the governor.  New York’s constitution grants tremendous power to its executive, far more than most states.  As a result of the American form of democracy, which relies on a system of institutional checks and balances, the power of the executive is matched by the legislative branch which has organized itself around powerful leaders.

But as is often the case with power, it has expanded beyond that simple structural defense.  The leaders amass so much power that rank and file members are often left in the dark about important decisions, members of the minority party receive only scraps of resources, and – as has been revealed in recent corruption investigations – leaders distort their public power to amass personal wealth.

This will be the first full session since corruption scandals toppled the previous legislative leaders in both houses.  Lawmakers in both houses must establish rules that ensure fairness in deliberations, and a maximum of public accountability, while protecting the institution’s power to challenge the executive.

Here are some steps that should be taken:

1.      Ensure that all legislators’ districts have roughly the same number of constituents, there should be parity in available legislative resources too.

2.      Reduce the number of committees on which members can sit and require that Senators must attend committee meetings in order for their vote to be counted.

3.      Require that all bills that pass out of committee include reports that set forth the purpose of the bill, proposed changes to existing law, the bill’s procedural and voting history, and any individual members’ comments on the bill.

4.      Encourage greater participation by all legislators by providing the opportunity for a simple majority of members to bring any bill to the floor for consideration and a vote, regardless of leadership objections.

Democracy demands public participation in public policy decision-making. Backroom dealing and secrecy undermine public confidence and breed public cynicism and apathy. Central to all policymaking are rules by which legislatures decide what to do.

It’s long past time for lawmakers to rebuild the public’s trust.  Advanced rules that focus on fairness and openness are important ways to start the 2017 session.

Blair Horner is the Legislative Director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors.  They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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