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Cuomo’s political reform proposal adding to Senate and Assembly work in last days of session

Posted 6/12/13

With less than two weeks left in the state legislature’s session calendar, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced details of his political reform legislation, on top of his recently announced Tax Free NY …

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Cuomo’s political reform proposal adding to Senate and Assembly work in last days of session

Posted

With less than two weeks left in the state legislature’s session calendar, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced details of his political reform legislation, on top of his recently announced Tax Free NY development plan and his 10-point women’s rights proposal.

Cuomo Tuesday outlined his reform package, which he says will help prevent public corruption, modernize New York's outdated voting laws, and reduce the influence of large donors in political elections.

The three-part reform package includes provisions that would create a new class of public corruption crimes and make it easier for New York prosecutors’ to crack down on public corruption across the state; voting reforms that will allow sixteen and seventeen year olds to pre-register to vote, expand access to the ballot for candidates, and make for more flexibility for affidavit ballots to be counted; and campaign finance reforms that would require disclosure of who is paying for political campaigns, offer public financing for campaigns to reduce the influence of wealthy donors, and reduce New York's relatively high contribution limits.

In his message accompanying the details, Cuomo said he wants to “restore the trust of the people in state government,” which has been shaken in recent years by declarations by critics of the state government’s “dysfunction” and in recent months with revelations of corruption by legislators and bungling by the leadership, particularly when Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s secret deal to quiet women who accused a member of sexual harassment come to light when the member’s new female staffers made fresh complaints leading to the resignation of the member.

"To restore the trust of the people in state government, we must tackle corruption head-on and ensure our district attorneys have the tools they need to prosecute those that defraud the public and bring disgrace to the halls of governments," Cuomo said. "New York's electoral process, campaign finance system, and our laws to prevent corruption are outdated, ineffective, and in serious need of sweeping reform. This comprehensive package of reforms will strengthen New York's democracy and is a major step toward restoring the public’s trust and confidence in our government," he said in the message accompanying his plan.

The Public Trust Act proposed by the governor will help fight public corruption, he said.

The act includes a new class of public corruption crimes that will make it easier for DAs to convict someone for bribing a public servant, create a new felony of "corrupting the government" and create a misdemeanor for failing to report a bribe or attempted bribe.

He also proposes higher penalties for misuse of public money, more tools for prosecutors to employ in cases of corruption, and extending the statute of limitations to five years to cover private individuals who are involved in addition to public officials.

He also proposes new provisions in election law, campaign finance law including public financing of some races, and disclosure of contributors to campaigns.