Senate Proposes Moreland Act Reforms

Yesterday, Senator Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) introduced a bill (S.5973) that would make a number of changes to Executive Law § 6, which is commonly known as the Moreland Act.  The bill is co-sponsored by his Staten Island colleague, Senator Diane Savino, who is a member of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC).

The bill would:

• require any Moreland Act Commission to be independent of the Governor
• require such commissions to adopt and make public its procedures before undertaking any investigation;
• prohibit any person who has (in the preceding three years) been a state or local official or employee, political party chair or lobbyist from serving on Moreland Act Commissions;
• require the Governor to seek a specific appropriation for monies used to support any Moreland Act commission; and
• require all documents made and used by the Moreland Commission to be preserved in the State Archives.

According to the sponsor’s memorandum in support:

“This bill is aimed to bring accountability back to these commissions by increasing the transparency of the actions of the Commissions, which currently is very limited. It also aims to ensure independence of the Commissions’ activities from the branch of government that it is required to investigate, the Executive branch including requiring that there be an appropriation for its operations such that it need not rely on the Executive to fund it piecemeal. Finally, it ensures preservation of all of the documents from a Moreland investigation so that its actions can be checked to ensure completeness and objectiveness in its recommendations.”

This is obviously intended to send a message to the Governor regarding how the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption has undertaken its efforts.