Issue Position: Ethics
Issue Position
New York is often joked about as having one of the most corrupt state governments in the country. This reputation is frustrating for our residents and holds our state back in opportunities, because who would want to do business with such a corrupt state. The public's trust in government is tenuous at best, and every opportunity we can take to build back that trust must be taken. For this reason I co-sponsor the Public Officer's Accountability Act (A.3945) which would enact meaningful ethics reforms including:
Reforming Member Items in the budgetary process. Currently these member items are hidden within the budget. This provision would cause each line of discretionary spending would have to be itemized which would be a tremendous increase in transparency for a process that has long lacked it.
Campaign Contribution Forfeiture for any elected official who was convicted of a felony related to their duties. The unspent funds in their campaign account would be refunded to the private persons/businesses that donated them unless they were out-of-state contributions which would be donated to an approved charity.
Creates the new crime of "Failure to Report Corruption' which would transform the cover-up culture into a culture of mutual accountability.
Prohibition on campaign funds for personal use. Currently, many candidates and elected officials spend campaign funds on things such as car payments, food, legal fees and rent. This provision would eliminate the ability to utilize campaign contributions to pay for these expenses.
Creates a penalty for late filing of campaign contributions. Currently many candidates fail to meet the requirements as there is little or no repercussions in most circumstances.
Establishes Term Limits for legislative leaders. Currently in the Assembly we have multiple committees that have been chaired by the same person for decades. This causes a situation where one individual person can control every piece of legislation on a specific topic for decades.
Source