Pass ethics reform first
Gov. Cuomo’s 380-page book accompanying his six State of the State speeches is overflowing with 149 proposals, from closing nuclear plants to rebuilding airports to free college tuition. Good or bad, and plenty of it is good, all of it is secondary to an ethical, functioning government in Albany free of taint, which we do not have.
Last legislative session saw Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara haul away in handcuffs the leaders, Democrat and Republican, of the Assembly and Senate, plus one of Cuomo’s closest aides.
Ethical reform for a corrupt Capitol has to be this year’s top priority. Not like last year, when Cuomo pushed a good-government package on June 8, a week before the session ended.
Cuomo must use the maximum leverage he has over Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie during the budget cycle — he submits his executive budget Tuesday — to fight without pause for reform.
The very good news: Cuomo’s got the right ideas. The open question: Whether the governor will push as hard as he must.
Unlimited outside income for lawmakers, a root cause of so much double dealing, must be eliminated. Legislators either work for the public or for private clients. They cannot have two masters.
Also on the money front, New York’s loosestin-the-nation campaign finance laws must be tightened radically. Close the LLC loophole, which allows big players to funnel unlimited cash to pols through anonymous shell corporations.
At the same time, sharply reduce the largestin-the-nation contribution caps. A donor can give Cuomo’s campaign $65,100 but only $5,400 to a presidential campaign. How dumb is that?
And abolish campaign “housekeeping” accounts, which allow for unlimited donations to committees under the thumb of party bosses.
Cuomo has a few ideas that we can take or leave — term limits for legislators, plus public financing of campaigns. The latter could actually make matters worse if it happens without ethics controls in place first.
Flanagan, Heastie and their pals aren’t going to like any of it. But they need to remember that they only have power because their predecessors are on their way to federal prison. Cuomo must fight, fight and fight for reform. He cannot give up.