15 October 2021: Hochul Wants to 'Blow Up JCOPE'

Hochul wants to 'blow up JCOPE.' But how?

This report indicates replacement NY Governor Kathy Hochul has arrived at an inevitable conclusion, but hasn't yet determined how to proceed to fix a very visible problem:

In a meeting last week with leaders of good-government groups, Gov. Kathy Hochul was said to be particularly blunt concerning one area of government she'd like to reform.

“I want to blow up JCOPE,” Hochul said at the meeting in her New York City office, according to John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany.

Asked whether Hochul had made the comment about "blowing up" JCOPE, a spokeswoman said only that, "Gov. Hochul is committed to instituting real ethics reforms and restoring trust in government, and we will continue to work with legislators, good government groups, and the public to reform JCOPE and improve ethics oversight to better serve New Yorkers."

In her remarks last week to good-government groups, according to Kaehny, Hochul did not offer specifics about her plan to “blow up” the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which was created by a 2011 law pushed by her predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo. But as Hochul likely faces a competitive Democratic primary for governor in June 2022, she seems to want to tackle the issue quickly.

Hochul has no way to get rid of JCOPE on her own, and the good-government groups encouraged Hochul and her staff to reach out to leaders in the state Legislature.

Under New York law, Hochul will be forced to take a two-track strategy. Proposals to amend New York's constitution, such as that of State Senator Liz Krueger to create an independent ethics watchdog agency will take at least two years to make happen, so in the short term, she needs band-aid type solutions to make the hopelessly compromised Joint Commission on Public Ethics less bad.

A number of legislative measures aimed at reforming JCOPE short of that more permanent action have been advanced by State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, but were blocked by NY Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. With Andrew M. Cuomo no longer in power, Heastie represents the biggest barrier to reform.

Cuomo's control and influence over JCOPE's appointed commissioners, including through appointments made by his political ally Carl Heastie, served to place his interests ahead of those of the public. JCOPE became an added level of protection allowing misconduct involving Cuomo administration officials. That misconduce includes episodes such as lying to state legislators about the full extent of COVID nursing home deaths during the period its deadly 25 March 2020 directive was in effect, which is why the timeline is continuing to follow the topic of JCOPE reform.