|
|
|
Contact
Me
|
|
Welcome to
LizKrueger.com
I'd love to hear from you. You can contact me by clicking here.
|
|
|
|
|
Albany Times-Union, January 7, 2005
Capitol Leaders Lay Out Reforms
Erin Duggan
The country's most dysfunctional government is changing how it does
business.
On Thursday, the Assembly and Senate each proposed more than a dozen changes
in their operating rules, which are expected to be voted on Monday. The
remodeling follows a year of activists and average voters alike loudly
calling for a reform of the way Albany runs.
But, like most things in Albany, it may not happen without a fight.
While the Assembly rules changes are a bipartisan effort that is expected to
easily pass, the Senate's package was designed by the Republican majority and
includes changes Democrats say will make their party even weaker.
The release of the proposals came after more than 100 government reform
activists from around the state mobilized earlier in the day in the
Legislative Office Building to continue to push lawmakers to make changes.
Though caught off guard by the announcement of the proposals, they were
generally pleased.
"There are examples of improvements in transparency, and these are good
first steps," said Jeremy Creelan, associate counsel at the Brennan
Center for Justice at New York University. The Brennan Center's summer
report, "The New York State Legislative Process: An Evaluation and
Blueprint for Reform," called the Empire State's government the most
dysfunctional in the nation, and called for overhauls to make it more open,
more fair and more functional.
One change would end "empty-seat" voting, a process by which
lawmakers can vote without being in their chambers -- or even in Albany.
Opponents of the practice compared it with getting paid without showing up to
work.
The Assembly said it will require legislators to be present during a slow
roll-call vote on each bill.
The Senate, however, would require senators to be present only for
"no" votes. Senate Minority Leader David Paterson, D-Harlem, said
the provision specifically targets minority members because almost every bill
voted on is sponsored by a majority member.
"Ninety-nine percent of the 'no' votes are cast by the minority, because
the minority (members) don't put any of the bills on the floor,"
Paterson said. "So the majority doesn't have to be there at all. They're
exacerbating the problem, instead of curing it."
The Senate doesn't have electronic voting, which the Assembly uses, and Bruno
spokesman John McArdle said it would be impractical to do a slow vote on
every bill.
Reform proponents have stressed the importance of the parties working
together on major issues. McArdle said Paterson was asked to be part of the
Senate's reform task force and declined, but Paterson said the task force was
made up of members whose seats his party was challenging. He said he agreed
to take part after Election Day, but was never consulted.
Paterson found out that Bruno's office released the rules changes when a
reporter called him for comment.
Besides not having a bipartisan agreement on its new rules, the Senate could
host quite a fight Monday because it doesn't even have temporary rules to
govern it.
Every two years, which is the legislative election cycle, a new Senate and
Assembly convene -- even though most of incumbents are re-elected -- and the
new Legislature must approve its own rules and committees.
On Wednesday, the Assembly passed a resolution temporarily adopting its old
rules until new ones are passed. But the Senate did not, so the old rules --
such as a two-hour limit on debates -- no longer apply.
McArdle said the Republicans decided against adopting interim rules "because
we have a good enough relationship with the minority." Senate
Republicans are prepared for "a spirited discussion," he said, and
rescheduled the session from 3 p.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to accommodate a
potentially lengthy exchange.
Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, who chairs the Senate Democratic Task Force on
Legislative and Budget Reform, said she hopes the minority will be able to
bring its own package of rules changes to the floor for a vote.
On Monday, Krueger said, "you're going to see Senate Democrats very
politely, and within the confines of the parliamentary process, say, 'You've
got to be kidding.' "
In the Assembly, though, Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, and Minority
Leader Charles Nesbitt, R-Albion, said late Thursday they're pleased with the
bipartisan rules changes. Silver said several items, like refining rules on
committee votes and getting bills to the floor, should help that house's
minority members.
Nesbitt said he wants the reforms to go further, but Monday's changes should
be a positive start.
"This is very serious reform," Nesbitt said. "I think many of
the concerns about transparency and empty-seat voting are dramatically
addressed here."
Nesbitt credited the rules reform to lawmakers and "a great amount of
pressure from the outside."
The Brennan report was shunned by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno,
R-Brunswick, who called it "pure nonsense." But it confirmed for
good-government groups what they've been saying for years: Albany's system is
broken, and only state lawmakers can fix it.
|
