For those confronting it, a crisis hits first with the shock and then unfolds \u2013 hopefully \u2013 as a growing recognition of what has to be done to respond to that crisis.\u00a0 Earlier this month, Governor Cuomo and the state Legislature (like the rest of us) was presented with the shock of a growing pandemic.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Governor Cuomo, the head of the executive branch, moved\nquickly to establish himself as New York\u2019s pandemic \u201ccommander in chief.\u201d He acted swiftly to respond to the crisis in\na clear and commanding manner that instilled confidence in New Yorkers and the\nnation at large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Legislature has yet to figure out how to respond to\nthe shock of the crisis. It was able to\napprove legislation that allowed the governor freedom to act, largely without\nthe Legislature. But one month into the\ncrisis the Legislature is just now trying to figure out how it can go about its\nbusiness during a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In many ways, it is harder for the Legislature to\nrespond. Unlike the executive branch,\nwhich has one elected leader, the Legislature is organized around the\nmajorities formed out of 63 state Senators and 150 state Assemblymembers. They are considered a co-equal branch of\ngovernment and their role is to be able to bring to state governmental decision-making\nthe feedback they get from their constituents. \nThey are the closest to the grassroots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But their decision-making requires them to act collectively\nin small groups and ultimately as legislative bodies, and act in public. They do so through committee deliberations\nand votes by the entire house. No one\nperson makes the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the legislative session hundreds of lobbyists and\nconstituents flock to the Capitol to make their case to state lawmakers,\ncharged with making the decisions on hundreds of pieces of legislation. Legislators spend much of their days in\nface-to-face meetings with those pressing their budget and other legislative\npriorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s during normal times, but we no longer live in\nnormal times. With 213 state lawmakers,\nhundreds of legislative staff and hundreds more lobbyists and constituents all\nin one building, the recipe for contagion is obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, a $178 billion state budget must be approved\nand New York must take steps to deal with the crisis as well as the hundreds of\nother issues that need to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are rumors that a budget deal will get done and\nlawmakers will simply stop coming to Albany to do their work representing the\npeople of the state. While an\nunderstandable concern, New Yorkers simply cannot be represented in democratic decision-making\nif the people they vote to represent them don\u2019t convene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In what is likely the first time in New York\u2019s history,\nthe Legislature must figure out a way to finalize a budget and act on other\npressing matters without convening itself in-person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what should happen? \nLike all of us, they must establish a system that relies on technologies\nto allow for remote legislative deliberations. \nLuckily, examples exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In two states \u2013 Oregon\nand Wisconsin \u2013 specific provisions allow\nthe remote or virtual meeting of the legislature if emergencies exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oregon authorizes legislative participation in session by\nelectronic or other means in the event of an emergency. Wisconsin allows virtual meetings of the\nlegislature and legislative committees when an emergency (or imminent threat of\none) exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course acting deliberately and openly is not a\nrequirement of the legislature alone, but of the executive as well. It must operate openly, and not only follow\nthe letter but the spirit as well of the state\u2019s open meetings and freedom of\ninformation laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While open and transparent government is fundamental to\ndemocracy, it\u2019s perhaps even more critically important during a crisis as the\npublic wants to know what its government is doing and how it is doing it. Rarely have the stakes seemed so high. New Yorkers are paying particularly keen\nattention to what Albany does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actions must be taken. \nAnd the legislature must continue to function even after the budget is\napproved. It is scheduled to be in\nsession for two months after the budget is finally approved and there are many\nissues that must be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democracy needn\u2019t be a\npandemic casualty. Thanks to widely\navailable technology, government can work even in these extraordinary times. Now more than ever, New Yorkers expect government\nto address the problems that we all face while meeting its constitutional and\nlegal responsibilities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For those confronting it, a crisis hits first with the shock and then unfolds \u2013 hopefully \u2013 as a growing recognition of what has to be done to respond to that crisis.\u00a0 Earlier this month, Governor Cuomo and the state Legislature (like the rest of us) was presented with the shock of a growing pandemic.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2377,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2376\/revisions\/2377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}