A federal grand jury has indicted former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The three-count indictment, filed by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara, accuses the Manhattan Democrat of honest […]
Archive Ethics
JCOPE Says Silver Failed to Report Outside Income
Last Friday, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) sent former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver a ‘notice of delinquency’ relating to his annual financial disclosure statements for 2011, 2012 and […]
Judge Rules for Trump Over JCOPE
The Daily News reports that an Albany-area judge has ruled in favor of Donald Trump in his 2014 lawsuit against JCOPE seeking information on whether the state ethics commission voted […]
Senate Democrats Propose Ethics, Campaign Finance Reforms
The Senate Democratic Conference released the “Clean Up Albany” ethics reform package today, proposing limiting the outside income of lawmakers to 15% of their salary (about $12,000 annually) and the […]
Speaker Heastie Appoints Search Committee for Assembly’s New Office of Ethics and Compliance
Yesterday, new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced the appointment of a six-member search committee to “conduct a national search for an executive director to lead new Office of Ethics and […]
JCOPE Issues Annual Report, Recommends Changes to the State’s Ethics Laws
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) issued its third annual report yesterday. Under Executive Law § 94(1), JCOPE was required to “undertake a comprehensive review” of regulations and opinions […]
Governor Gives the Legislature an Ultimatum on Ethics, Campaign Finance Reform (Updated)
This afternoon, Gov. Cuomo outlined his ethics and campaign finance reform agenda for the 2015 legislative session at the NYU Law School. [Watch video and read a transcript of the […]
Assemblyman Heastie Announces Reform Plans
As he continues to seek support from his Assembly colleagues in the race for Assembly Speaker, Assemblyman Carl Heastie announced the following “necessary first-steps” toward reform as part of a […]
Good Government Groups Call for Reforms
Earlier today, the Brennan Center for Justice, Citizens Union, Common Cause/NY, the League of Women Voters and NYPIRG held a press conference at which they “urged the members of the […]
Assembly Speaker Arrested on Public Corruption Charges; Will Resign Speakership Tomorrow
On Jan. 22nd, federal prosecutors arrested long-time Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) on corruption charges. A five-count complaint filed in Manhattan alleges that Silver accepted millions of dollars in kickbacks […]