Progress on Ethics Reform Bill?

The Albany political blogs are reporting that Governor Cuomo and the legislative leaders are nearing an agreement to overhaul the state’s ethics laws.

According to the details (being reported here and here):

• the current state Commission on Public Integrity (CPI) would be scrapped in favor of a new Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE);
• JCOPE would have the authority to investigate both the legislative and executive branches, and the Governor would not have a majority of appointees (the Governor currently has a majority of appointees to the CPI);
• the state Legislative Ethics Commission (LEC) would continue to exist, and it would impose any penalties against lawmakers found of wrongdoing by the JCOPE;
• lawmakers would also have to disclose their outside incomes in narrower categories (they are now redacted from the public);
• lawmakers would have to disclose the identity of their outside clients who have business before the state, and possibly any clients they attract to their companies who have dealings with the state (JCOPE would help lawmakers determine what needs to be disclosed publicly); and
• judges would be permitted to strip lawmakers of their pensions if they are found guilty of a felony, though there would be exemptions for spouses and other pension beneficiaries.

The reports indicate that the bill will also require 501(c)(4) advocacy groups to reveal their donors who give more than $5,000 if the group did more than $50,000 worth of lobbying of state government a year.

No word on whether the bill will change the “cup of coffee” rule that effectively prohibits legislative receptions.

In response to the blog posts that I link to in this post’s opening paragraph, Governor Cuomo denied that a deal has been reached has been reached on ethics reform.  He also reiterated his threat to form a Moreland Commission to probe lawmakers if no deal is reached on ethics reform.