A Legislature desperately in need of reform

Gov. David Paterson made no friends in Albany with his State of the State address last week. In it he outlined a series of ethics and campaign reforms under what he called the Reform Albany Act — aimed primarily at what many say is a dysfunctional Legislature.

Paterson, who is up for election this year after having ascended to the governor’s office in the wake of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s sex-for-hire scandal in 2008, is among the Empire State’s more unpopular governors, with favorability ratings hovering in the 20 to 30 percent range. So his messages hardly resonate with the people.

That’s too bad, because Paterson is right: Albany is in dire need of reform. He is not being paranoid when he speaks of a “shadow government” lurking behind the scenes at the Legislature. He’s referring to a small army of lobbyists representing anyone and everyone, from Big Tobacco to the teachers unions, with major dollars to throw down on campaign contributions to ensure that their messages are heard in the halls of government — and ultimately to control policy.

Paterson’s plan would limit campaign contributions to no more than $1,000 — compared with the $55,000 limit now in place, one of the highest in the country. We agree that campaign finance must be a part of any reform effort in the Capitol.
Paterson would also like to enact term limits for legislators, which would require an amendment to the state constitution. Here, the path the state should take is less clear. On one hand, our state lawmakers are incredibly entrenched — so much so that it has been said that they’re more likely to die in office than to lose an election.

On the other hand, should earnest, respected members of the Legislature be forced out of office if their constituents are happy with their performance?

The real question is, why are our state lawmakers so secure in their jobs? Yes, they receive plenty in campaign contributions, allowing them to amass enormous war chests. But that’s true in many states where state legislators aren’t nearly as entrenched — or dysfunctional.

The problem, we believe, is twofold. First, the Legislature controls electoral districting. That means lawmakers can redraw their districts every 10 years to ensure that they have an adequate number of votes to remain in office indefinitely.

There are any number of stories of legislators (or their re-election teams) combing through district data block by block, counting the numbers of Republicans and Democrats, then redrawing district lines.

Five states — Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey and Washington — have their electoral districts reworked by nonpartisan, independent commissions. New York should as well. We did not, however, hear Paterson speak about the need for a redistricting commission, although he did propose an ethics and campaign-finance commission — clearly a step in the right direction.

We also did not hear much from the governor about member items, the special grants that legislators can direct to their local constituencies. These grants amount to millions of dollars each year. The majority parties in the Assembly and Senate receive substantially more of this money than the minority parties. The grants go to youth groups, nonprofit agencies, fire departments, hospitals and the like.

The idea behind member items is that legislators know their constituencies — and where the state should target its grant money. The only trouble is that member items are too often used as campaign slush funds, with money doled out to big groups that gratefully help get out the vote for the incumbent.

We believe that the grants, in many cases, go to good causes and, yes, our legislators do know their constituencies far better than any Albany bureaucrats would. What is needed here, again, is an independent commission to oversee how and to whom member items are distributed. The majority and minority parties should also share equally in member-item funds.

Good luck to Paterson in enacting reform. Our state legislators have never been known to work against their own best interests. Their constituents need to let them know that it’s long past time to do so.