| Several civic groups have issued a report card assessing the reforms addressed by former Governor Eliot Spitzer and current Governor David Paterson.
You can read the report card here.
The report card does praise the Governor's office on a few things, such as comprehensive ethics reform. But even with those reforms that the report card says the Governor's office and the Legislature met, there were criticisms.
Here is the press release on the report card.
In issuing its call today, the groups released A "Report Card on Reform" that examines the Governor's office's rhetoric and reality regarding reform over the past two years. While the groups were encouraged by some of the early progress made in 2007, such as increased transparency of the executive budget process and to some strengthening of ethics policies, the Report Card shows a lack of action in most areas, including campaign finance, in spite of a three-way agreement announced last July on the issue.
The groups are also concerned that the Commission on Public Integrity, which was created to serve as a stronger ethics watchdog, is essentially and inappropriately dominated by appointees of the Governor. In addition, although the Assembly held public hearings on the issue of redistricting reform last year and the Governor's office introduced a constitutional amendment to end partisan gerrymandering, no action has been taken to enact a fair way of drawing district lines through an independent nonpartisan redistricting commission. With much fanfare, the Senate held public hearings last spring and summer on how to reform the state's campaign finance laws, but no bill ever came out of those hearings to address the dysfunctional system. The civic groups decried lawmakers' familiar pattern of failing to enact meaningful changes as the "all talk, no action" approach to reform in Albany.
Asking to be proved wrong in their assessment, the reform groups urged the Governor and Legislature to enact real reforms before the end of session to restore the public's hope that the two-year session that began with so much promise will in fact not sputter to an abysmal end.
Also, Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group issued a statement regarding Governor Paterson's proposed campaign finance reform measure.
As longtime advocates of legislation to change Albany, we know what it takes to get legislation done in June. We repeatedly urged the Administration to discuss their campaign finance proposal with the legislature prior to introduction as the most realistic path to getting a reform bill done. They appear to have refused and instead intend to introduce a program bill that could well be an academic exercise at this point of the session.
According to the governor's spokesperson, we should be rallying the public for a proposal that they apparently refused to discuss with the legislative leaders. Refusal by the Administration to fight for its own reforms "will not lead to progress."
We have a better idea -- the governor should convene a public leaders meeting this Monday to discuss possible agreement on any of the items in the Administration's proposed reform agenda.
After two years, New Yorkers want and deserve achievements, not more rhetoric.
The civic groups are key to pushing Albany in the right direction. They are the voice for millions of New Yorkers who want to see change in Albany's direction and the ways of the Governor's office and Legislature. |
