18 December 2021: Cuomo Scandals Push Ethics Reform to Front Burner

Cuomo scandals push ethics reform to front burner in statehouse

This report describes some of the slow moving developments that may lead to substantial reforms of New York's ethics laws for state government employees.

Fresh optimism is building over efforts at the statehouse to create an independent ethics enforcement commission that can expose embarrassing backroom deals and public corruption.

With former Gov. Andrew Cuomo no longer casting a shadow over state government, good government advocates and lawmakers say his replacement, Gov. Kathy Hochul, will have an opportunity to lead the state through the most progressive ethics reforms in decades.

What is highly unusual, said John Kaehny, director of Reinvent Albany, a group that has championed ethics reforms, is that Hochul has signaled she is willing to give up power to control appointments to a reconstituted ethics agency in order to set the table for the new, independent watchdog.

"She is willing to sacrifice some of her own power for the public good," Kaehny said....

One proposal getting a close look from Hochul is a bill that would set up an integrity commission, modeled on the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. Sponsored by Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, the bill would replace both JCOPE and the current legislative ethics commission, and would have the power to admonish, demote and even remove officials involved in wrongdoing.

That's not the only potential reform being put forward.

Assemblyman Ron Kim, D-Queens, said he wants to limit governors to two terms in office. Governors are elected to a term of four years, but there is no cap on how long they can serve.

"There is such a clear concentration of power in the executive branch that we need to make sure it does not get out of control," said Kim.

If only the state officials who have responsibilty for enforcing the ethics regulations that currently apply to state government employees were more serious about the need to reform New York's public employee ethics laws....