10/01/2004
Assembly Democrats Seek Reform
A group of Assembly Democrats has introduced a resolution to change rules to
make the Legislature more effective.
The resolution, supported by 18 of the Assembly's 102 majority party Democrats,
calls for the implementation of key recommendations from a July 21 report by New
York University's Brennan Center for Justice that labeled New York's state
government the nation's most dysfunctional. The resolution is aimed at shifting
power from the speaker to rank-and-file members. Among other things, it would:
Give each Assembly committee the power to hire and fire its own staff.
Require Assembly members to be present for and to personally cast all votes and
attend all committee meetings.
Require, unless opposed by a committee's majority, a public hearing if requested
by a quarter of a committee's members.
Require a two-thirds vote of the Assembly to accept a "message of necessity"
from the governor. A message of necessity is a parliamentary tool often used to
force votes without giving legislators time to read hastily crafted, last-minute
budgets and legislation.
Center officials say they hope that if the Assembly adopts the resolution, the
Senate will be pressured into following suit.
The resolution is sponsored by Assemblyman Scott Stringer, D-Manhattan.
Co-sponsors are Sam Hoyt, of Buffalo; Darryl Towns, of Brooklyn; Joseph Morelle,
of Rochester; Danny O'Donnell, of Manhattan; and Michael Gianaris, of Queens.
The other Democrats who signed on are Jonathan Bing, of Manhattan; James Brennan
and William Boyland Jr., of Brooklyn; Sandra Galef and Adam Bradley, of
Westchester; Jeffrey Dinowitz, Jeff Klein and Michael Benjamin, of the Bronx;
Ryan Karben, of Rockland; John McEneny, of Albany; Crystal Peoples, of Buffalo;
and Mark Weprin, of Queens.
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