The New York legislature recently cooperated with Governor Andrew Cuomo to approve badly needed and long awaited ethics legislation. In recent years Albany has been plagued with one political scandal after another including bribery, illegal gifts, perjury, and more.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to get tough on ethics violations. Photo by: newscomThe Clean Up Albany Act of 2011 attempts to address New York’s need for more transparency in the legislature. Most notably, the bill will require that part-time legislators report not only how much they earn from their outside business ventures, but also the names of any of their clients who are also doing business with the state. The bill will also create the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which will be the watchdog of ethical standards.
While the efforts of the New York legislature may be commendable, they fall short of the requirements for truly transparent government. As reported by the New York Times, the newly created Joint Commission on Public Ethics is to be composed of six members appointed by the governor and eight members appointed by legislative leaders. In order for an investigation on an elected official to ensue, eight members of the commission must consent, including two members from the party of the accused. This allows legislative leaders to protect their party members from investigations, making this bill all bark and no bite.
Speaking of all bark and no bite, one might be reminded of Georgia’s ethics legislation in 2010. SB 160 required tighter financial disclosure requirements for legislators; however, it did not require them to report any of their clients, making it harder for the public to find out who is in their pocket. They also gave the Ethics Commission a new title, but no new money. In a blog post this Monday we discussed how the commission has received $5,000 in funding to do work that is estimated to cost $421,700!
So it seems that Georgia legislators are not the only ones publicly trumpeting ethics in government yet inserting loopholes in legislation that undermine true honesty and openness in government. At this point it’s up to the constituents to recognize token legislation for what it is and demand real legislation that addresses our need to keep our government accountable.
Written by CCGA Intern: Vineece Verdun
My New York friends and family say they’re really glad this bill got passed. And while the legislative committee may experience a loss of teeth, independent watchdogs, like the media or Common Cause NY, should be able to have more bite because of the increased disclosure. It’s an area of disclosure GA would do well to enact.
Georgia actually did pass some legislation last session aimed to create more disclosure. The problem is that there are a lot of loop holes that officials can use to be sneaky. The second problem is that watchdog groups are not able to do anything but bring the violation to light. Ethics commissions are the only groups able to take action and bestow punishment. If their power or “bite” is taken away there will be little legal reprimand for voilators. It is not to say that these laws are not a step in the right direction, there is just still a lot that should be done if ethics and transparency are the goal.
well, to get a little more specific, the problems with GA ethics commission is too little money, not enough authority. while they may not be able to prosecute all violations on their own, they must make prosecutorial determinations on Complaints filed with them, so watchdog groups and independent citizens do have some bite. just don’t file anything frivolous! no perfect procedure, but something.
more important is that the disclosure requirements of the NY law are in a league above the disclosure requirements in GA, particularly with their focus on disclosing reps’ business before the legislature. this is not an authority that the GA ethics commission has, but is presently vested in the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. it should be removed to the ethics commission though.
but in that joint leg ethics committe is where you will run into the same exact political problem that the NY commision will- political protection.
however, the system in NY still appears better than GA b/c while it allows for partisan protection, certain violations (the ones that will get the media and watchdog attention) may need to be prosecuted in light of the public attention. and maybe the individuals on the committee will have to disclose their votes? (the GA joint leg ethics committee procedure is not transparent).
so, def a big diff b/w NY and GA, and while NY may struggle with lower enforcement due to partisan protection, GA has that plus the lack of money for campaign finance law enforcement, plus – most importantly- a spirit of disdain for enforcing ethics.