Governor Explains How the Moreland Act Commission Will Clean Up Albany

In today’s Daily News, Gov. Cuomo explains “How We Will Clean Up Albany.” (The column was distributed via e-mail as well.)

He cites the 2011 ethics reform law that requires the disclosure of lawmakers’ “relevant financial information including outside income, employment and holdings,” along with his new Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption:

The commission is comprised of the state’s finest collection of law enforcement personnel and reform experts. It is bipartisan and unambiguous in its orientation.

There is nothing academic about it. It is dominated by practicing prosecutors whose past work speaks for itself. The attorney general’s deputization of the commission through his “public justice” jurisdiction carries with it sweeping power to subpoena documents, compel testimony and bring light to the dark corners of government previously left unexamined.

This commission is charged with uncovering — and referring for prosecution — misdeeds, and by doing so should give the people of New York peace of mind that, once the investigation has concluded, their government is working for them. There could be no more dramatic or appropriate response by a governor.

In today’s Times Union, Jim Odato compares  the 2013 Moreland Act Commission with Gov. Mario Cuomo’s 1987 version.

According to New York Post columnist Fred Dicker, unnamed Democrats are unimpressed with the new Moreland Act Commission.

The Associated Press notes that this new panel has “more teeth” than its ’80s-era predecessor, but asks “will it bite?”

Finally, watch Common Cause Executive director Susan Lerner discuss the Moreland Act Commission, among other issues, in City & State NY’s “last look.”