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Who's got the solution for banishing corruption from Albany for good?
(AP photo)
Former Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver ruled the roost in Albany for years. Nothing happened in the chamber without his say-so. And that included everything from bills coming to the floor to staff allocations to parking spots.
He ruled with an iron fist. Because that's the way the rules are written: To make legislative leaders all-powerful. Leaders in the state Senate have wielded much the same power.
And, as we've seen all too often in Albany, absolute power can corrupt absolutely.
Mr. Silver was recently convicted on federal corruption charges, convicted of using his office to line his own pockets with millions of dollars in kickbacks tied to his outside job with a high-powered law firm that specializes in asbestos cases.
He also controlled a private slush fund that he tapped to secretly pay $103,000 in hush money to victims of Vito Lopez's sexual harassment.
Mr. Silver was doing business, all right. It just wasn't the people's business that he was sent to Albany to perform. A jail cell could await him.
He is certainly not alone. There has been a veritable conga line of lawmakers led away from the statehouse in handcuffs due to public or personal corruption in recent years.
And the corruption knows no party. As Mr. Silver's trial ended, still ongoing was the federal corruption trial of former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a Republican, who was joined by his son, Adam, in the dock. Conspiracy, extortion and solicitation of bribes were among the charges, tied to a contract given to a firm that hired Adam Skelos.
The two were found guilty on all charges on Friday.
So it's been quite the tableau we've been exposed to over the last several weeks: Mr. Silver on trial in one courtroom, Mr. Skelos in another. They were once Albany titans, two of the fabled "three men in a room" who, along with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, hammered out budget deals and distributed the spoils.
When the last budget deal was rolled out in 2015, Mr. Cuomo famously unveiled a cartoon illustration of the three, dubbing them "The Three Amigos."
We wonder how Mr. Cuomo feels about that picture now. He'll have some new amigos when the next budget session comes around.
It has all earned Albany the richly deserved reputation of being the most dysfunctional legislature in America. And that's saying something.
So what to do? We all know the problems, have known them for years. How do we solve them?
The Republicans in the Assembly minority have some ideas.
Speaking to the Advance Editorial Board, GOP Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb said that Albany has become "too leadership-driven."
Mr. Kolb, who was joined by Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn), said that that dynamic stifles lawmaking and "disempowers" the rank and file.
Mr. Kolb referred to this as "regime"-style leadership.
Among the reforms that the minority suggests are term limits of eight years for legislative leaders and for committee chairs.
The Republicans would also:
Require every appropriation to be specifically identified in the state budget with notification to the attorney general that no conflict of interest exists.
Prohibit any appropriation to organizations that employ or compensate the governor, a legislator or family member.
Establish new crimes and increased penalties for those who act against the public trust or fail to report corruption.
Strip pensions from those convicted of betraying public trust.
There would also be equal funding for each member's office, regardless of party affiliation or seniority. Every lawmaker would also be permitted to bring one substantive piece of legislation to the floor for a vote.
There is no doubt that the system needs fixing. Other attempts to do so have failed, most recently when Mr. Cuomo suddenly shut down the Moreland Commission, which had been tasked with rooting out corruption. The bad taste from that still lingers, as do overall concerns about how Albany does business.
Assembly Republicans raise some good points. Term limits for leaders and chairs is worthy of debate. And why shouldn't each lawmaker be able to bring at least one bill to the floor for a vote? Isn't that what they're there for? And few could argue that lawmakers who have profited by abusing the public trust deserve a public pension.
But there doesn't appear to be much the GOP can do to gets its agenda implemented. They are in the overwhelming minority in the Assembly, and that isn't going to change any time soon. It seems unlikely that the Democrats will agree to cede one ounce of the power that comes with being in the majority.
So we go back to square one: There are problems with corruption. Something needs to be done.
Who has the answer?