The Independent View: NY Legislature Needs Ethics Reform

I recently wrote my New York State Senator, Liz Kruger, expressing my concern regarding corruption in Albany and the need for ethics reform.

Here is her reply:

Dear Mr. Drucker

Thank you for writing to me expressing your concern regarding corruption in Albany and the need for ethics reform. The guilty verdicts of both Dean Skelos and Sheldon Silver show that New York is in need of a fundamental change in the way that “business as usual” is conducted. In the Sheldon Silver trial, one of the defense arguments was that Silver was just operating in the typical Albany fashion, which is sadly the reality today. I do believe there are a number of legislative actions we should take that can reduce opportunities for corruption and the influence of money in Albany.

The frequent scandals in Albany are often followed by watered-down “ethics reform” bills that do not get at the substance of the problem, while more meaningful reform legislation is pushed to the side. There are a number of bills I support and I hope that the current moment will provide an opportunity for advancing these more substantive reform measures.

One common-sense solution is to create restrictions of legislators’ outside income so we do not see any more outside interests buying the support of elected officials. Senator Brad Hoylman is now the prime sponsor of Bill S34 that I cosponsor that would restrict the nature and type of outside income to mirror the US Congress cap of 15% of gross legislative salary.

Bill S60a, sponsored by Senator Daniel Squadron, would close the LLC loophole that enables candidates to receive unlimited campaign donations from companies or individuals who establish multiple LLCs. I also cosponsor this legislation, and I am also party to a lawsuit brought by the Brennan Center for Justice that would force the State Board of Elections to close this loophole permanently.

Finally, to effectively reform our campaign finance system, we must lower contribution limits and cap “soft money” contributions while demanding greater transparency and disclosure. Also, we must ban contributions from companies that do business with the state and establish a public financing system with low-donor matching funds. There are a number of legislative proposals that I support that would accomplish these goals.

I greatly appreciate your concern for ethic reform and I thank you for writing to me. This is a long, arduous fight and I will be working to convince my colleagues that we must take substantive action on ethics reform in the wake of the latest series of scandals. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have additional concerns regarding this or other issues.

Sincerely,

Liz Krueger
State Senator

I will be working to make 2016 the year that changes are made to clean up the New York Legislature and to get these and other bills signed by Gov. Cuomo.