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For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 7th
2005
Time
Running Out to Reform
State Government
Senate
Dems Start ‘Countdown to Reform’ Vow to Fight for
Change
Albany, NY – Senate Democrats say time is running out to implement
meaningful reform in Albany
-- and today kicked off a campaign to force the Senate Majority to debate and
vote on important reform legislation before the end of the current
Legislative Session.
“Passing a budget on time is not
enough,” said Democratic Leader David Paterson. “We have promised the people
of New York
that we would enact meaningful reform this year, and we’re running out of
time to do so.”
The ‘Countdown to Reform’ begins
today and will continue through the last ten days of session. Each day will
focus on a specific area of reform that has yet to be addressed by the Senate
Majority.
“We intend to hold the
Majority’s feet to the fire,” said Senator Liz Krueger, chairperson of the
Democrats’ Task Force on Legislative and Budgetary Reform. “We are going to
remind the public and the media of the empty promises made since November.”
A calendar has been placed in
the Democratic Conference Room (Cap- 315) to mark the session’s remaining
days as well as the reform issue of the day. Each day a different Senator
will discuss that particular issue on the Senate floor.
“Over the next ten days, we will
focus on the most pressing reform issues, including campaign finance,
redistricting, public authorities and lobbying
reform,” Krueger said.
New York State's government has long been criticized for its
insular and secretive ways, and in fact was labeled “the most dysfunctional
legislature in the nation“ by the Brennan Center
last year.
Republican Senators, who originally scoffed at the Brennan Center report, came to embrace it when
polls showed the issue resonated with voters. After the 2004 elections, in
which Senate Democrats picked up three seats with a strong message of
reforming Albany,
many Republican Senators attempted to paint themselves as reformers.
However, when it came time to act, the Republican Majority
showed their true colors and enacted only minimal reforms. In fact, the
Republicans passed new rules which actually exacerbated the Senate’s
dysfunction and made it less democratic.
Krueger called on the Senate to immediately take up important
legislation in a number of areas, including:
·
Legislative Reform – fixing the
rules of the Senate and Assembly to ensure that the process is transparent
and honest;
·
Lobbying Reform – ensuring that
the public knows who is working to influence its government and how;
·
Public
Authority Reform – reining in New
York's “shadow government”;
·
Redistricting
Reform – removing power of incumbents to draw their own lines; and
·
Campaign
Finance Reform – leveling the political playing field to ensure
competitive elections.
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