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THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN
To those who pay close attention to state government, last week’s Quinnipiac poll was no surprise. The poll found that by a margin of 72 to 20 percent, New Yorkers believe that state government is broken and needs to be fixed. The only people surprised may be legislative leaders, who after two years of “on time” budgets, may have expected to see some positive feedback. But there was none. After two decades of late budgets, partisan infighting and legislative gridlock, the public expects more than on time budgets, they expect reform. Even last year’s action on public authorities reform was not enough. Despite touting it as a major reform, the Governor and legislative leaders got another dose of bad news when a gubernatorial panel examining the new law determined that last year’s “reform” was not enough. Much more needs to be done. That panel, created as part of the authority reform legislation, determined that there needs to be a truly independent authorities budget office to monitor the finances of state authorities. Last year’s reform legislation was supposed to create an “independent” budget office, but in reality the office is controlled by the Governor – the person who also controls state authorities. This new budget office is hardly independent. The scandals and controversies at state authorities – including the now infamous Canal Corporation agreement to steer development rights to the Erie Canal for $30,000 to a favored developer – have contributed mightily to the public disgust with Albany. Last year’s authorities reform legislation was supposed to be a response to the mounting evidence of incompetence and corruption at state authorities. Sadly it was not and the panel led by the Governor’s lead man on authorities unanimously agreed that much more work is needed, including the creation of a truly independent budget office. In one week the political parties will be holding their state conventions in order to agree on their election tickets for the Fall elections. It better be clear to Albany’s political elite that action, not words, is what the public wants from incumbents running for re-election. And so far, there has been too little action to match the rhetoric. Of course, there are still six weeks for lawmakers to achieve some real reforms before they face the voters in November. Unfortunately, it appears that the Governor – who will not be on the ballot – will offer no help to the reform effort. For there to be any real progress, it will have to come from the legislative process. And what are the issues that New Yorkers want addressed? For starters, it would be a good idea for lawmakers to actually enact real reforms to bolster oversight of state authorities – reforms that include creation of a truly independent authorities budget office. In addition according to pollsters, New Yorkers by a 3 to 1 margin want legislation passed to create an independent redistricting commission to establish the boundaries of legislative districts, not politicians, as is now the case. Also according to pollsters, a majority of New Yorkers believes that state legislators do not represent the public’s best interests at the Capitol. Reforming New York’s broken campaign finance system would help address this problem. It’s not too late. Lawmakers can act on these issues and other needed reforms before the session wraps next month. That’s all for now. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Capitol and will talk to you again next week. |
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