The 2016 legislative session kicked off quietly last week. Typically, the governor unveils his legislative program on the first day. His State of the State address serves as the legislative curtain raiser for the session. This year, the governor has chosen to postpone his address for one week and has used that time to make daily announcements highlighting his upcoming initiatives.
As a result, lawmakers returned to a more subdued Capitol to begin the 2016 session. Both houses began their sessions with each house’s leadership discussing the top issues as they see them. Not surprisingly, both the Senate Majority Leader and the Assembly Speaker discussed the looming debate over how to strengthen the state’s ethics.
It was one year ago that the now-former Senate Majority Leader and now-former Assembly Speaker unveiled their legislative priorities. Little did they know at that time that one year later they would both be booted from office and facing prison time for corruption convictions.
But that is what happened and the new leaders had to at least tip their hats to the need for additional ethics measures.
During his opening address, the new Assembly Speaker offered his priorities for ethics reforms. He identified a number of reforms that the Assembly would advance, including closing the LLC campaign finance loophole, limiting the influence of big money in politics, and allowing for the pension forfeiture of corrupt public officials.
He then stated, “Make no mistake - over the coming weeks, discussions around proposals on ethics WILL be a priority of this house. The Assembly is serious about ethics reform and we know that words are not enough.”
Over on the Senate side, the statement was less sweeping and less definitive as to what the Senate Majority woulddo in the area, but very clear in what it would not do – support public financing of elections.
The Senate Majority Leader did echo the Assembly Speaker by stating that actions will speak louder than words.
And he’s right: For too long, New Yorkers have heard a lot about ethics reforms, but limited actions. The unprecedented corruption convictions create a unique historical moment, a moment that should lead to sweeping changes.
All eyes turn to the governor. His State of the State address this week can offer New Yorkers a glimpse of what may happen. It is the governor that has the power to leverage real changes in the state’s ethics laws.
And it is safe to say that the governor understands that he has this opportunity. In recent weeks, the governor has ramped up his rhetoric about the need for changes.
In a recent media interview, the governor stated that addressing the issue of corruption in state government is a top priority, “The top of my agenda is going to be ethics reform,” he said. “We have done a lot in Albany but we haven’t done enough. And I’m going to push the legislature very hard to adopt more aggressive ethics legislation, more disclosure, more enforcement.”
The governor is right. But soaring rhetoric, while important, does not mean change. As the legislative leaders correctly pointed out, at the end of the day what matters is whether that rhetoric meets the reality found in new laws.
Albany’s soaring reform rhetoric has rarely met the actual changes. The governor’s Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption was disbanded before it ever got off the ground, at least in part because the governor and the legislative leaders wanted a deal more than an independent investigation.
The governor will set the stage this week. How he uses his power will determine whether there is an historic change in Albany’s ethical climate that matches the opportunity.
Blair Horner is the Legislative Director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
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