Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky

It's long past time we legislators cleaned up our act

Posted

It has been a momentous month in Albany. The recent arrest of Sheldon Silver, the former Assembly speaker, has led to understandably heightened public concern over government corruption. New Yorkers are once again questioning the ethics of those we trust to serve our best interests in Albany — and they are rightly clamoring for reform.

I believe the time has finally come for that change.

Last month’s corruption scandal was the catalyst. Right now, with renewed purpose and a new speaker, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to finally act, and make the reforms needed to restore the trust of the public we serve.

As a former federal prosecutor who was tasked with weeding out corruption in Albany and Washington, I am committed to being a part of these new reform efforts. After pushing the case for reform following the recent crisis in Albany, I was appointed by newly elected Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to a committee that will find a director for a new Assembly ethics and compliance office. This is an important first step in the long process of an ethics overhaul.

We must not stop there, however. Next, we must take a close look at the outside income earned by legislators in order to prevent conflicts of interest from affecting lawmaking, and establish the important perception that lawmakers put New Yorkers’ interests first. Preferably, state senators and Assembly members should officially be full-time state employees, considering the responsibilities of the job and the justly high expectations of New Yorkers — not part-time as they are now.

With that change would likely come appropriately higher pay and far less need for outside income. But if legislators must also earn non-government income, it should be reported. And what they do to earn that income must be extremely transparent.

We should also rethink our campaign finance rules, which allow huge amounts of money to flow from special interests to candidates, potentially affecting their objectivity once they are elected. How campaign money is spent must also be better detailed and monitored.

Page 1 / 2