Cuomo Bill Targets Corrupt Officials, Employers

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has released an anti-corruption bill that would not only ban people convicted of bribing a public official from state business for life, but would also bar their law firm, lobbying firm or company.

Cuomo’s proposal is bold by Albany standards. If enacted, it could be a significant deterrent to companies, organizations and firms dependent on long-term financial dealings with the state. The provision was deep in the bill, which Cuomo issued Monday night, and follows criticism that his usual strategy of not releasing detailed bills lacks transparency.

The bill was part of a flurry of proposals from state government leaders in reaction to recent bribery and corruption cases brought by a federal prosecutor.

“The time to walk the walk on public corruption is long overdue,” said Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, a Canandaigua Republican.

But two ideas overwhelmingly supported by New Yorkers that were bottled up in the Assembly showed how hard it is for lawmakers to take aggressive action to govern themselves.

Kolb and fellow Republicans submitted a bill that would have stripped convicted politicians of their state pensions and another that would have put term limits on legislative leadership positions. Both were shelved by Democrats who run the Assembly.

“Public officials who betray the trust of their constituents should be stripped of taxpayer-funded pensions — that’s just common sense,” Kolb said. “Putting term limits on legislative leaders facilitates new ideas, encourages fresh perspectives and eliminates the perception of absolute power in Albany.”

More than 80 percent of New York voters recently polled supported the proposals.

Term limits are needed because both chambers’ majorities and Gov. Andrew Cuomo all broke promises in 2010 to require election districts to be drawn by an independent commission to make races more competitive, said Bill Samuels, founder of the New Roosevelts government reform group.

“After opposing term limits in general, I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Kolb is right,” said Samuels.

Samuels wants to go further. He proposes making lawmakers full-time and paying them more but prohibiting them from also working at law firms and companies that could create conflict of interest. He said his measure would also encourage more teachers, business operators and others to run for Legislature.

Past reforms “just didn’t work and you have to admit it,” Samuels said. “Once you do that, you need different types of people who are willing to serve in the Legislature. … In the long run, corruption is best solved by having ethical people run for office.”

Meanwhile, the state’s ethics board proposed easing the standard for financial disclosure by lobbying groups if they feel threatened and changing the rules for gifts to officials.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics relaxed the current measure that allows lobbyists to keep their donors and potentially other financial data secret if there is a “substantial likelihood” of harm. The new recommended wording would ease that to a “reasonable” likelihood or probability of harm.

This article appeared in print on page D26 of the May 1st, 2013 edition of Hamodia.