CPI’s Time Winding Down

In today’s Times Union, Jim Odato considers the not-so-bright future of the Commission on Public Integrity (CPI).

Governor Cuomo is expected to sign the bill creating the new Joint Commission on Public Ethics “in the next few days.”  This will effectively terminate the CPI’s investigatory and enforcement authority.

As a result, today’s scheduled meeting of the CPI has been “postponed,” and there is no word on when (or whether) the meeting will be held.

The bill provides that the JCOPE takes over 120 days from the day the Governor signs the bill into law.  This will be late October, assuming the Governor signs the bill this week.

Odato reports that the Governor’s aides intend to keep the CPI staff in place “until further notice,” and that in the mean time “the current commission will be expected to continue collecting and disclosing lobby data on its web site.”