26 August 2021: New Governor, NY Lawmakers Discuss Ethics Reform

NYS lawmakers, Hochul talk ethics reform

Some long overdue discussions began taking place on 25 August 2021 in New York:

State ethics reform has been a big topic of discussion in Albany in recent months. On her first day of the job yesterday, Governor Kathy Hochul talked about the changes she’d like to make. And, today the State Senate held a hearing on “ethics oversight and enforcement.”

“We’ll focus on open, ethical governing that New Yorkers will trust,” Governor Kathy Hochul said Tuesday. She has called for making sexual harassment and ethics training for state workers be done live. She’s also asking state entities to look at compliance with state transparency laws and come up with a public report. And, she said, “I’ve instructed my counsel to come up with an expedited process to fulfil all FOIL requests as fast as possible.”...

Meanwhile, today State Senators held a pre-scheduled ethics hearing where lawmakers criticized the Joint Commission on Public Ethics and its transparency.

“It is no secret to any of us here that Albany has a long history riddled with corruption and abuses of power, and it has long been subject to scrutiny for its failure to implement an effective ethical oversight regime,” said Senator Alessandra Biaggi.

“This is something that I think has been of significant concern to both parties, both sides of the aisle,” said Senator Anthony Palumbo.

Amazing that these things are happening so quickly following the departure of Andrew M. Cuomo and his senior officials from power.