Bar Association Task Force Ethics Issues Final Report on Government Ethics

The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Task Force on Government Ethics released the final report today.  The Task Force was chaired by Patty Salkin of Albany Law School and Michael Garcia of Kirkland & Ellis, a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  (I had the honor of serving on the task force as a member of its subcommittee on due process and enforcement.)

The report makes 22 recommendations for ethics reform in Albany, including: creation of a single ethics commission to oversee employees executive and legislative staff, as well as lobbyists; a new state law on “honest services fraud”; more disclosure of outside income by public officials of outside income; and completely revising the laws governing municipal ethics.

The Bar Association’s House of Delegates approved the ethics recommendations last Friday at the their annual meeting in New York City.