In case you missed it, via Danny Hakim:
It looks like the standoff between Gov. David A. Paterson and the state's ethics oversight commission - known as the Commission on Public Integrity - will continue at least through the summer.
(snip)
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver unveiled a complex proposal at the meeting that appeared to doom any chance of swift action. His plan would create three commissions charged with ethics and lobbying oversight of the executive branch and the Legislature. The governor and Senate Democrats have proposed creating a single, independent ethics and lobbying commission with jurisdiction over both branches of government.
At the heart of the differing approaches is Mr. Silver's unwillingness to cede the Legislature's control of its own ethics oversight. He proposed recreating the current, much-maligned Legislative Ethics Commission along the lines of the Office of Congressional Ethics in the House of Representatives.
He also proposed breaking up the integrity commission into separate commissions overseeing lobbying and ethics, reviving a structure that existed before 2007.
An independent board with oversight on both lobbying and ethics is the best way to police Albany, but Shelly just can't stomach the thought of anyone with power in Albany who doesn't answer to him. No surprises here. I hope Paterson and Smith can override his objections, but I'm not optimistic. |
