Agreement Announced on Ethics Reform, Part II

Following up on Friday’s late-afternoon announcement of a deal on ethics reform, Governor Cuomo and the legislative leaders held a press conference yesterday to shed more light on the agreement and the still-unseen legislation.

Watch the video of yesterday’s press conference here.  Governor Cuomo said “This is an historic piece of legislation, it is a major step forward,” even as he acknowledged that the actual bill is not yet finished.

The New York Times notes that while good government groups are applauding the agreement, it does have some shortcomings.  The new entity, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) will have ethics oversight of both the Executive and Legislative branches of government – a huge improvement over the current situation in the eyes of good government groups. But it will also operate under rules that could enable a small minority of the Commission to block an investigation.  The AP has more on that provision.

The Times Union discusses some of the “imperfections” of the bill, as good government groups take the “glass half-full view.”  Even with its imperfections, they say that it is better than the current state of affairs.

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports that some legislators may choose to give up public office rather than meet the heightened disclosure requirements of the new ethics law.

The NY Post tries to shed some light on some of the bill’s provisions, including its name, which has morphed from the Clean Up Albany Act to the Public Integrity Reform Act.

In terms of editorial boards, the Kingston Daily Freeman takes a “wait and see” attitude. The Times’ likes some parts of the agreement, but has concerns about the structure of the JCOPE.

The Poughkeepsie Journal, the Watertown Daily Times, Newsday and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle all express support for the new ethics regime.

Daily News columnist Bill Hammond says that passing an ethics reform bill is just the beginning, and challenges the Governor to make sure that this reform initiative is not a repeat of 2007.

Finally, Jimmy V. of the Times Union reports that the agreement will bring back legislative receptions.