Editorial Boards, Good Government Groups Decry Lack of Real Ethics Reform

With the both legislative leaders convicted of corruption-related offenses in 2015, and public opinion polls showing broad support for addressing corruption in Albany, there were expectations that ethics and campaign finance reform would be high on Albany’s 2016 agenda.

In January, Governor Cuomo proposed a number of changes in response to the Silver and Skelos convictions, including closing the LLC loophole and limiting lawmakers’ outside income.

But with neither of these items included in the end-of-session ethics reform agreement, editorial boards throughout the state and good government groups are saying that lawmakers fell short of what is needed.

Read their perspective in the links below:

Buffalo News: “Lack of comprehensive ethics reforms overshadows Legislature’s successes”

Syracuse Post Standard: “Thumbs down to … tepid ethics reforms”

The Journal News: “New York needed more on ethics reform”

New York Times: “The Old Albany Hustle”

The Times Union: “You had one job, New York”

NYPIRG’s Blair Horner: “2016 Legislative Session Wraps Up – Gov, Lawmakers Whiff on Ethics Reform”