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Republicans Griffo, Ritchie, Blankenbush hail state Senate passage of ethics reform legislation

Posted 6/14/11

St. Lawrence County’s Republican state representatives are hailing Monday’s state Senate passage of ethics reform legislation. The Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 is “a major step …

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Republicans Griffo, Ritchie, Blankenbush hail state Senate passage of ethics reform legislation

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St. Lawrence County’s Republican state representatives are hailing Monday’s state Senate passage of ethics reform legislation.

The Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 is “a major step forward” and “puts Albany on the road to regaining the public’s trust,” said Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, Rome, whose district includes the eastern half of St. Lawrence County.

Also known as bill S.5679, the measure significantly expands disclosure of outside employment and income of all legislators and makes the information available to the public.

It creates greater transparency and creates an independent, bipartisan Commission on Public Ethics with strong enforcement powers to investigate violations of law by members of the executive and legislative branches – as well as oversee lobbyists with newly expanded disclosure rules. The bill could also result in stripping violators of their pensions if they betray the public’s trust.

The bill “helps us start addressing and managing the misdeeds of politicians and policy influencers,” said Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush, Black River, whose district includes much of southern St. Lawrence County. “While the reform measure is not fully comprehensive, we do achieve some important things. Taxpayers will no longer have to pay for the pensions of convicted public officials, and we’ve broadened the scope on income and asset disclosure so we can know who may have an undue influence on elected officials.”

Said Sen. Patty Ritchie of Heuvelton, whose district covers the western half of St. Lawrence County, “If we want to encourage businesses to locate in New York and convince existing businesses to remain and create more jobs here, we need to continue our efforts to bring real reform and change to Albany.”

She continued, “This bill provides greater transparency and expands disclosure of outside employment and income of all legislators and makes the information available to the public,” Senator Ritchie said. “It demonstrates that we in the legislature are committed to keeping the promises we make and restoring New York State as a place where families are proud to live and raise a family.”

Added Griffo, “Passage of this bill, which has the support of Gov. Cuomo and the Assembly leadership, shows how far we have come in our efforts to change state government and root out the institutional dysfunction that I have worked so hard to change..”

Other details of the bill:

• Greater Financial Disclosure: Financial disclosure statements filed with the new Joint Commission on Public Ethics from elected officials will now be posted on the internet and the practice of redacting the monetary values and amounts reported by the filer will end. The Act also includes greater and more precise disclosure of financial information by expanding the categories of value used by reporting individuals to disclose the dollar amounts in their financial disclosure statements. The Act requires disclosure of the reporting individual’s outside clients and customers doing business with, receiving grants or contracts from, seeking legislation or resolutions from, or involved in cases or proceedings before the State as well as such clients who meet the above criteria brought to the firm by the public official.

• Increased Access to Information About Individuals Appearing Before the State: The Act establishes a new database of any individual or firm that appears in a representative capacity before any state governmental entity and the reason for their appearance.

• Additional Disclosures for Registered Lobbyists: The bill expands lobbying disclosure requirements, including the disclosure by lobbyists of any "reportable business relationships" of more than $1,000 with public officials. It also expands the definition of lobbying to include advocacy to affect the "introduction" of legislation or resolutions, a change that will help to ensure that all relevant lobbying activities are regulated by the new Joint Commission.

• Forfeiture of Pensions for Public Officials Convicted of a Felony: Certain public officials who commit crimes related to their public offices may have their pensions reduced or forfeited in a new civil forfeiture proceeding brought by the Attorney General or the prosecutor who handled the conviction of the official.

• A New Joint Commission on Public Ethics: The Joint Commission on Public Ethics will replace the existing Commission on Public Integrity with jurisdiction over all elected state officials and their employees, both executive and legislative, as well as lobbyists. The bipartisan Joint Commission will consist of 14 members:

-- Six appointed by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, at least three of whom shall be enrolled members of the major political party that is not that of the Governor

-- Eight appointed by the legislative leaders (four each from the two major political parties)

Among other restrictions, no individual will be eligible to serve on the Joint Commission who has within the last three years been a registered lobbyist, a statewide office holder, a legislator, a state commissioner or a political party chairman. The executive director of the Commission will be selected without regard to party affiliation. Commissioners will be prohibited from making campaign contributions to candidates for elected executive or legislative offices during their tenure.

The Joint Commission will have jurisdiction to investigate potential violations of law by legislators and legislative employees and, if violations are found, issue findings to the Legislative Ethics Commission, which will have jurisdiction to impose penalties. Significantly, if the Joint Commission reports such a violation to the Legislative Ethics Commission (with full findings of fact and conclusions of law), that report must be made public within strict timeframes, along with the Legislative Ethics Commission’s disposition of the matter.

The Joint Commission will have jurisdiction to impose penalties on executive employees and lobbyists. Any potential violations of federal or state criminal laws will be referred to the appropriate prosecutor for further action.

The act also requires the state Board of Elections to issue new regulations clarifying disclosure of independent expenditures.

And the act substantially increases penalties for violations of the filing requirements and contribution limits in the Election Law, and provides for a special enforcement proceeding in the Supreme Court. The bill also increases penalties for violations of certain provisions of the state’s Code of Ethics that prohibits conflicts of interest.\