The Independent View: NY Might be Ready for Statewide Term Limits

On July 2, 2013, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo appointed the “Commission to Investigate Public Corruption” under the Moreland Act and Executive Law Section 63(8) to probe systemic corruption and the appearance of such corruption in state government, political campaigns and elections in New York State. It is called the "Moreland Commission".

The defeat of ballot Proposal 6 to raise the retirement age for judges, from 70 years for elected justices of the state Supreme Court and 76 years for appointed judges on the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest, to 80 years sent a powerful message. The preliminary vote was 61% vs. 39%. The Moreland Commission would do well to heed: New Yorkers have a healthy distaste for public officials who overstay their welcome.

Backers argued that forcing bench-sitters to retire is a waste of hard-learned judicial experience. Voters weren’t buying the argument. People on the public payroll should know when to quit.

That same visceral reaction against political careerism could be seen in the mayor’s race. No single factor did more to tank the candidacy of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn than her role in overriding term limits for Mayor Bloomberg, herself and other city officer holders, that voters had approved twice.

Citizens of the New York City's five boroughs clearly hold a strong belief in the cleansing effect of forcible turnover in government.

Albany, meanwhile, has legislators who have been clinging to their seats for decades. The system coddles incumbents so effectively that they’re more likely to be arrested than lose office in a general election, with the predictable consequence of widespread rot.

Surely, if the state’s voters were given the chance to impose term limits on the Capitol, they would do so in a heartbeat. Just as surely, the State Legislature would never voluntarily grant voters that opportunity.

This is where the Moreland Commission comes in. Its charge is to explore the root causes of Albany's problems and recommend fixes.

Nothing does more to breed corruption than the belief among politicians that they are locked in for life, free to focus on building their pensions and spinning webs instead of serving the people.

And nothing would blow up that culture more effectively than a mandatory changing of the guard after, say, after two terms.

If commission co-chairs William Fitzpatrick, Kathleen Rice and Milton Williams are serious about changing state government, they must put term limits on the table for the overdue debate.