Ethics Reform Update

Yesterday, Gov. Cuomo announced that the New York State Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association support the lawmaker outside employment disclosure requirement that is part of the two-way ethics agreement that the Governor has reached with Assembly. Lawmakers would be required to disclose the sources and amounts of their outside income, including their legal clients.

The State Bar Association President Glenn Lau-Kee said:

“We support the two-way agreement on disclosure which protects client-confidentiality, because it serves the public interest by enhancing financial disclosure while fundamentally recognizing the critical right of clients to avoid publicly revealing very sensitive matters.”

The New York City Bar’s full statement on the ethics and campaign finance reform proposals is here.

Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos wants whatever ethics reforms that would cover state legislators to apply to Executive branch employees as well.

The editorial boards of the Buffalo News and the New York Times want the Governor and Legislature to go further.