Ethics Reform Postponed
September 10th, 2009
The Senate failed to move on an ethics bill tonight after an amendment that supporters say would strengthen it was voted down. Republicans railed against the amendment saying it was unnecessary. Democrats were in a weakened position as they were short the vote of Sen. Brian Foley. They will likely take the package up again later this year.
Sen. John DeFrancisco said that the debate was “backwards,” insisting that there were enough votes to pass the larger ethics bill that already passed the Assembly. He also said that the amendment was not going to pass the Senate and offered to “apologize to everybody if I’m wrong.”
Republicans say the amendment would give Democrats too much control over a campaign finance enforcement board. The board would have three people apponted by the governor appointees, with the attorney general, comptroller and the heads of the legislature each naiming one person. The current political landscape would leave Republicans with only two representatives on the board.
Democrats say the amendment is designed to strengthen the ethics bill that passed the Assembly by creating a real enforcement mechanism to deal with campaign finance violators. The subject of campaign finance has become particularly touchy for Democrats in recent months thanks to Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. and his record of skirting campaign finance law.
Good government groups had worked alongside legislators last week to come up with an amendment to strengthen the Assembly bill. Today representatives from those groups said that Democrats had done the right thing by not settling for that bill without the amendment.
“The league applauds the Senate Democrats for putting forward this chapter amendment which, along with the Assembly bill, is good reform. ” said Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters of New York State. “Without the chapter amendment, particularly the campaign finance discrete enforcement unit which for the first time provides teeth to the campaign finance laws, the Assembly bill does not meet our standard of real reform.”
“The Senate’s approach adds real teeth to ethics enforcement, which is why we cannot support only the original bill,” wrote Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union in a statement.
Citizens Union’s sister organization, Citizens Union Foundation, publishes Gotham Gazette .
By David King on September 10, 2009, 9:32 pmIn category: Albany, Eye on Albany | No Comments »

