| If there is anything that symbolizes the dysfunction in the New York State Legislature, it is the committee structure that exists in both houses. In the Assembly, there are 37 standing committees while the Senate has 32 standing committees. For any state legislature, those numbers are high. For New York's, it means there are a lot of committees that are useless and need to be merged with other committees or eliminated altogether.
For both houses, there are committees that tend to overlap or committees that could be combined to create a broad committee that would still be able to focus on all the issues it would oversee. Reducing the number of committees would lessen the burden on legislators, who have to sit on numerous committees, and would help these legislators play a much larger role in the legislative process.
Reforming the committee system would make leadership a necessity for those seeking to serve as committee chairs. With 37 committees in the Assembly and 32 in the Senate, these committees are seen more for their "lu-lu's" - the stipend you receive for being a committee chair - than what the committee actually does. That should not be the purpose of these committees. These committees need to be more than an extra check for legislators. They need to be active, functional and have a purpose.
I have advocated for committee reform because I believe it is key for the future of the legislature. The Brennan Center has discussed reforming the legislature and, specifically, reforming committees. The New York State Senate will be looking at decreasing the number of standing committees and the Assembly should as well. And as an advocate for such reforms, I have some ideas for the direction that both the Assembly and Senate should go in.
Since the Senate is already looking at such reforms, we will start there. The committees right now are the following:
Aging * Agriculture * Banks * Children and Families * Cities * Civil Service and Pensions * Codes * Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business * Consumer Protection * Corporations, Authorities and Commissions * Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections * Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation * Education * Elections * Energy and Telecommunications * Environmental Conservation * Ethics * Finance * Health * Higher Education * Housing, Construction and Community Development * Insurance * Investigations and Government Operations * Judiciary * Labor * Local Government * Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities * Racing, Gaming and Wagering * Rules * Social Services * Transportation * Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs
After reviewing the 32 committees, I found ways to take the 32 committees and create 14 committees that would be more efficient and, while they would cover more material, would be more effective in reviewing legislation and making better bills in the Senate.
These are the 14 committees I created (or kept) from the 32 current committees:
- AGRICULTURE: Kept this committee in place because of its importance
- BUDGET: The Budget Committee would focus squarely on the budget and would transfer responsibilities from other committees, namely the Finance Committee, to the Budget Committee so that this committee can push for a stronger budget.
- COMMERCE AND ENERGY: This is one of the larger committees. The Commerce and Energy Committee would consist of the following current committees: Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business, Consumer Protection, Transportation, Energy and Telecommunications, Racing, Gaming and Wagering
- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: This committee would be created by merging the Economic Development and Small Business portion of the former Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business committee, Housing, Construction and Community Development and Cultural Affairs, Tourism and Parks and Recreation
- EDUCATION AND LABOR: Using Congress as an example, the combination of education and labor is a smart one. This committee would be formed by the two obvious committees - Education and Labor - while also merging the Higher Education Committee.
- ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION: Kept this committee in place because of its importance.
- FINANCIAL SERVICES: This committee would be created by merging the Banks and Finance committees to create a larger committee focused on New York's financial sector, which is an important part of the state's economy.
- HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: This committee would form by merging the following current committees: Aging, Children and Families, Health, Insurance, Mental Health and Development Disabilities and Social Services.
- HOMELAND SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT: Create a Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Committee using the following "old" committees: The Homeland Security portion of the Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs committee and the Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee.
- INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS: - Establish the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee using the "old" Cities Committee and the "old" Local Government Committee.
- JUDICIARY: This committee is necessary and needs to be kept.
- OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY: Create the Oversight and Government Accountability Committee which would oversee the following "old" committees: Civil Service and Pensions, Codes, Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, Elections, Investigations and Government Operations
- RULES: This committee is also necessary and needs to be kept.
- VETERANS AND MILITARY AFFAIRS: Keep this committee, only subtract the Homeland Security portion of it.
Why is this better than the current system? For starters, going to 14 from 32 will make committees more relevant. Right now, the only thing the current system serves is to give a lu-lu to the senator who is the chair of that committee. It doesn't reward good leadership.
This way, not only do you reward leadership, but you make committees relevant by making them more generalized and allowing them a broader blanket. Creating a committee for a singular issue isn't necessary. That's why 32 committees aren't needed.
Click for more on the reforms and the proposal for the Assembly. |
| One standing committee that is listed as such a committee in both houses is the Ethics Committee. My proposal calls for the removal of the ethics committee as a standing committee and classifying the ethics committee as a special committee. This committee will be called on a case-by-case (when needed) basis and will have members appointed by both conferences to serve.
The reforms I proposed for the Assembly are similar.
Here is the Assembly list:
New Committees:
Agriculture
Banks
Budget
Commerce and Energy Committee
Education and Labor Committee
Environmental Conservation
Health and Human Services
Housing and Economic Development
Intergovernmental Affairs
Judiciary
Oversight and Government Accountability Committee
Rules
Veterans Affairs
Health and Human Services Committee: Made up of Aging, Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Children and Families, Health, Insurance, Mental Health, Social Services
Create a Budget committee which would be responsible for Budget negotiations and creating the budget in the Assembly; Real Property Taxation Committee would be included in this
Creation of the Education and Labor Committee using Education, Higher Education, Labor and Libraries and Education Technology
Creation of the Commerce and Energy Committee which would be made up of the following committees: Consumer Affairs and Protection, Commerce and Industry, Energy, Racing and Wagering and Transportation
Make Ethics Committee a special committee with rotating members on a case-by-case basis
Establish the Housing and Economic Development Committee using the following: Economic Development, Small Business, Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports
Oversight and Government Accountability Committee: Includes the following "old" committees: Codes, Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, Election Law, Governmental Employees, Governmental Operations, Oversight, Analysis and Investigation
Intergovernmental Affairs: Cities and Local Government committees
Eliminate Ways and Means: Budget and Commerce committees would serve the purpose |
