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More Brodsky Follies

by: Michael Bouldin

Thu Mar 08, 2007 at 14:10:24 PM EST

Astonishingly, nobody else out there in ProgBlogLand has done anything more with that Brodsky apologia of the Assembly in last Sunday's New York Times. That's odd, because the short article is a condensed, creamy, buttery, oh-so-rich and oh-so-good concoction of considerable comedic potential.

Take, for example, this short paragraph:

This country is a beacon of liberty not because of steamrolling chief executives, but because of legislatures that limit their power. Reform in Albany requires a credible, independent and active Legislature that can challenge the governor, improve or stop his proposals and protect the system of checks and balances that define a democracy.

...and contrast it with this from the Brennan Center blog (the folks at the Brennan Center are the ones who describe Mr. Brodsky's beacon of liberty as the most dysfunctional legislature in America):

Unfortunately, it seems that the Assembly Majority is not committed to creating a more responsive, deliberative, accessible, accountable, and efficient legislative process. Members may boo when the Assembly is called dysfunctional, but it's hard to see how the epithet isn't still deserved.

(Cross-posted at The Daily Gotham)

Michael Bouldin :: More Brodsky Follies

Concretely, Brodsky and his fellows in the beacon of liberty that is the Assembly voted down:

E230, a bill that would have allowed rank-and-file members to force a committee hearing on a bill.

E234 would have required a transcript of all committee meetings, to be made available to the public. That would be a two-fold advance; currently, not only are the transcripts not public, but there are no transcripts unless a committee decides they're required.

E243 would have given each member of the Assembly the chance to choose one of his or her bills during each two-year term and have that bill brought to the floor for a vote on its merits. Which is the kind of stuff members of real "legislatures" do every day, mind you. Too radical for Albany.

E 228 would have required that the Assembly Committee on Conference Committees, which was created in the last round of reforms in 2005 meet at least once before the end of the legislative session.

E 241 would have made sure that members of the minority receive resources, such as staff and funding, proportional to their numbers.

There's more, but those seem to be the highlights. Brodsky's quasi-Athenian noble dream of "democracy" doesn't even include public transcripts of committee hearings, or letting members bring stuff up for a "vote". But I'm sure this poor, poor man is still utterly mystified as to why his "legislature" just can't seem to get any respect.

Tags: State Assembly, Brennan Center, Richard Brodsky, New York Times, (All Tags)

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More Brodsky Follies | 4 comments

Excellent diary! (0.00 / 0)

Have you though about writting a LTE to the times?

by: Roatti @ Thu Mar 08, 2007 at 19:43:02 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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what a wanker. (0.00 / 0)

great post.

TODAY is day one. It always is.

by: phillip anderson @ Thu Mar 08, 2007 at 20:11:46 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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It's funny... (4.00 / 1)

...how some of you can kill Brodsky on this when you post about the spring cleaning at the ESDC above this post. Brodsky tirelessly investigated them for years and has continued to do so. That there is an example of a legislator being effective.

I read the article last week and it was more balanced than how it has been framed here. Indeed, he said they don't do things well and I'm sure he would admit that there is a "leadership" problem.

I do think his perspective plays on why he thinks this way. For 12 years you had Pataki gutting budgets, sticking hacks in authorities, and generally running the state as his own special interest. When Pataki gutted the budget, people came to the Legislature for help and they restored the cuts. When Pataki stuck hacks in authorities and ran them into the ground, Brodsky investigated them and shamed them into passing a major authorities reform bill.

Things do happen in the Legislature. It's not the best, but it is not the Brennan Center's view either. For godsakes, the Brennan Center criticized the Legislature for introducing too many bills! I didn't know too many ideas were bad--plus you never know when one of those bills may gain legs.

Also, the Brennan Center reviewed inactive committees that skewed the numbers. How about study Brodsky's Committee? I just read in the paper that he's held two recent hearings on the Public Service Commission and held a hearing on a new bill to reform public authorities. So, some committees do hold hearings on proposed legislation.

Finally about those above-mentioned rules changes...

Many committees have transcripts of their hearings etc. I just got one from the Environmental Conservation Committee and the Corporations Committee. I just called and asked and they emailed them to me in a pdf document.

Rank and file members can force a vote on a bill in committee already, but to allow a forced hearing on whatever bill anyone wants would slow Albany down even more--and then we would scream about that.

Speaking of the forcing a vote on one or two bills that members want on the floor already exists as a rule on the floor via an amendment.

I'm not saying the Brodsky piece was perfect, nor that Albany is perfect. I just don't think that "the short article is a condensed, creamy, buttery, oh-so-rich and oh-so-good concoction of considerable comedic potential." Many legislators are hardworking and do make a difference. It seems that we are of the throw the baby out with the bathwater kind.

by: HRF @ Sun Mar 11, 2007 at 15:35:58 PM UTC

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Diversity of opinion here... (0.00 / 0)

Thanks for your very well-informed post. I contribute a lot at TAP (as, for instance, the ESDC post you mention), so, I was not weighing in on this one quickly-- often feel that if I swim too upstream of the "throw the bums out" tide, I, too, will be tossed with the bath water....

But, you are right. Brodsky is 100% the wrong guy to pick on. I shudder to think what kind of state we would be living in if we had not had legislators like him working to check Pataki. And, yeah, Sheldon Silver had some accomplishments there, too.

Some of our TAPers are young and full of passion for reform. As I dimly remember, when I was young and like that, I tended to tar with a pretty broad brush, too. Luckliy, I had some role models around to show me that you could not build something better by just bashing and crashing. Stick around, be a mensch (or a mighty-Mom), post, educate. There is a range of opinion here at TAP. As one of my favorite role models, Gil Scott Heron, would say "...and if we have you, we have everybody..."

by: robinia @ Mon Mar 12, 2007 at 11:43:42 AM UTC

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