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 REFORM NEW YORK: LEGISLATIVE RULES One of a series of proposals to boost the public accountability of New York State Government The State of New York’s Ethics
Public confidence in the rules that govern the legislative process is a cornerstone in public support for lawmaking. Public distrust of the legislative process erodes democracy. Until the New York State Assembly pushed for legislative reforms in the late 1970s, the legislature allowed for little public scrutiny. In addition to opening committee meetings to the public, the Assembly advanced a reform that allowed members to require that committees vote on their bills, rather than being unilaterally blocked by the committee chairperson. This rule is still in place in the Senate. Over the past decade, there have been efforts to further open the legislature to public scrutiny. In 1994, both Houses of the Legislature passed concurrent resolutions allowing bills, state laws and other public data to be placed on the Internet for broad public access. In 1995, newly elected Senate Majority Leader Bruno called for legislative changes that included creation of a New York State "C-SPAN." Both houses also agreed to allow for the use of joint conference committees to negotiate legislative differences between the houses. In 2001, both Houses agreed to "webcasting" coverage of their floor deliberations. In 2002, the Assembly went one step further and allowed cable TV access to its webcasting "feed." However, during that same period the partisan Majority in both Houses took measures to impose dramatic restrictions on the ability of the minority party to oppose policy initiatives. As a result, in both houses of the legislature, these changes have greatly limited the ability of the minority parties to raise policy challenges, or force votes on important issues. Democracy is fundamentally about the process under which citizens decide issues. In a representative form of government, the rules under which the legislature makes its decisions can significantly affect the policy choices open to lawmakers. New York State's legislative rules should move toward more openness and democracy. Greater openness and accountability The legislature makes most of its decisions in secret. Experts have argued that New York's legislative rules and practices are among the most undemocratic in the nation (1). Any serious reform package must include opening the New York State Legislature up to greater public scrutiny. Below are important reform recommendations for both houses. • All bills reported to the legislative floor must be accompanied by a public committee report that contains, at a minimum, purposes of the bill, change in current law, section-by-section analysis, procedural history, committee or subcommittee votes, and any members' views of the bill. • Allow for a "Form 99" process in the Senate. The Assembly already allows for a "Form 99." Under the Assembly rules, any member can force a committee vote on legislation introduced by that member. The Senate should allow members the ability to force committee votes as well. • All committees shall remain in operation throughout the legislative session. Under current Senate rules, committees are shut down during the last month of session. All legislation is then moved to the leadership-controlled Rules Committee for possible action. Shutting down committees at the end of session - precisely when most legislation is coming before the house for action limits the power of the committees and minimizes public participation on the process. Committees should remain in operation until the session finishes its work. In addition, new limits should be placed on the practice of calling committee meetings "off the floor." Such meetings should only be allowed under agreement between the majority and minority members of the relevant committee. • Create a real "C-SPAN" for New York State. The federal C-SPAN has created a neutral platform which any legislator can use to air his or her views and for holding state government accountable. Both houses of the legislature have publicly stated their support for the creation of a state "C-SPAN," but little has been done to create such programming. In a television age, the public has no real ability to understand and participate in state issues without a "C-SPAN." • Improvements in the Freedom of Information Law. The legislature is exempt from the New York State FOI law. While the houses' rules state that they will comply with the law, both sets of rules allow for additional exemptions. Both houses should adopt rules, and ultimately pass legislation, that expands the scope of the FOI law to include the legislature. • Allowing full and open debate on the most important issues of the day. Closed door party conferences cannot substitute for open debate on the floor of the legislature. • Allowing full use of the motion to discharge. Minority parties need an institutional mechanism for airing their views and for holding the majority accountable. In addition, current time limits on debates should be liberalized. • Require that all committees must post their agendas on the Internet a full two days in advance of the meeting (with exceptions only for those additions that are agreed to by the ranking minority member of the committee). • Legislative Process Reform. There should be a prohibition on proxy voting. Legislators should attend committee meetings to insure that their constituents' views are fully represented in decision-making. • Conference committees on similar legislation. Under current rules, a conference committee process can begin if approved by the leadership in each house. As a result, very few non-budget conference committees have been appointed to negotiate legislative differences between similar bills. Granting to legislative sponsors the right to create a conference committee would greatly enhance the use of these committees to negotiate agreements. • Post "debate lists" on the Internet a full business day before the legislation is taken up on the floor of the house (with exceptions only for those additions that are agreed to by the minority leader of the respective house). Fairer allocation of resources New York State allows partisan affiliation to drive how the legislative leadership allocates resources. The legislative leaders allocate staff and other resources to those members of the majority with the most seniority, to committee chairs and those members who may face tough re-elections. New Yorkers deserve equal representation in their state legislature - irrespective of whether their representatives are part of a legislative majority or not. We agree that committee chairs and top legislative leadership should receive more resources than rank-and-file members. However, beyond that fairly limited number of members, resources should be fairly equally allocated. • Each committee shall be authorized to hire its professional staff. Adequate funding for professional staff, facilities and equipment shall be provided to each committee, and shall be allocated on a proportional majority-minority split. • For standing committees, proportional representation and staffing for Majority and Minority members. • Uniform personnel allotments for all state legislators. Rules reforms There are some legislative practices that should be changed. Use of legislative resources that promote incumbency should be banned as well as rules that allow the leadership or the majority unfair control over the respective Houses. • End the abuse of mass mailings. Currently both houses have rules that inadequately limit the use of taxpayer-funded legislative mass mailings during the election season. We recommend that the "black-out" period begin as soon as candidates announce their re-election effort. • End the "starring" power of the Senate Majority Leader. The Senate rules grant the Majority Leader unprecedented power to halt legislation. The rules allow the Majority Leader to "star" legislation on the Senate floor. Once legislation is "starred," it cannot be voted on until the star is lifted by the Majority Leader. • Legislation shall be reported to the legislative floor only: (1) By
a vote of a majority of those members of a standing committee; • Tighter ethical standards. A new rule should be passed that prohibits the acceptance of gifts valued at more than $25. Under the current rules of the Assembly, legislators can essentially accept as many gifts as they like from lobbyists. There should be a strict limit on the acceptance of such gifts. Moreover, the legislative ethics committee must become a real ethics watchdog. We urge that the legislature appoint an independent enforcer of a stronger set of ethical standards. • Open bill sponsorship to all members. The majorities in both houses often prohibit minority party legislators from co-sponsoring legislation. There should be no such prohibition. • End the abuse of the messages of necessity. New York State's Constitution requires that all legislation must be available to legislators a full three days before a house can take any action. (2)This requirement can be ignored when the Governor issues a "message of necessity" which allows for immediate action on legislation. The Constitution created this loophole in order to allow lawmakers to act on issues that required immediate attention. (3) This loophole has been abused by the Governor and the legislative leaders to such an extent that many important decisions are now approved with a message of necessity. The messages are used usually in an attempt to limit public debate over important issues. The legislature should act to carefully limit the use of these messages and to prohibit their use in budget negotiations. Organizations endorsing this paper:Common Cause/NY League of Women Voters/N.Y.S.
New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG)
Reform New York:
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