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Republican State Senator Betty Little
won’t support Senate Democrats if and when they vote to override
Governor David Paterson’s veto of the legislative ethics bill.
Paterson kept a promise and vetoed the
ethics bill Tuesday, arguing that senators hadn’t gone far enough to
stem the influence of lobbyists and failed to create a viable
mechanism of oversight of legislators who financially gain from
dealings with outside interests.
The legislative version of the ethics
bill was adopted in the Senate on January 20th.
And for Little, it is high time that
the legislators work with Paterson and actually draft legislation
with some real teeth while the iron is hot.
“The ethics reform bill closes some
loopholes but it could be a lot
better with a little effort,” Little said. “My concern, and I think
a lot of people would agree, is that momentum for comprehensive
reform would be lost if this bill becomes law.”
Shortly after the governor’s veto, the
Senate Democratic leadership was confident that they would be able
to garner enough GOP support to secure the 41 votes needed to
override the veto.
But the minority leadership
Republicans said that this assertion is a bit presumptive.
The GOP leadership said that most of
its membership would not support a veto override.
Senate Democrats currently hold a 32
to 30 advantage, and would need at-least nine Republicans to join
them to override the veto.
Paterson called on ethics legislation
that would create an independent ethics oversight commission and
require lawmakers to disclose any and all dealings special
interests.
“We must bring fundamental change to
the culture of Planet Albany, and finally put the interests of the
people of New York ahead of lobbyists and special interests,”
Paterson said.
The bill passed in the Assembly and
the Senate modifies the current system of oversight, but it would
still be composed of appointed legislators.
Little, who voted in favor of the
Senate version of the bill in January, said that although it closes
some loopholes, it doesn’t go far enough.
“The biggest flaw I see in the
legislation is that it would leave the
Legislature itself in charge of enforcing its own new rules. The
Legislature can’t police itself effectively,” she said.
Little is joining the Governor in
calls for an independent ethical review commission and greater
disclosure requirements.
The Senate GOP Conference had lobbied
for an amendment in the legislature’s version that would have given
greater authority to the Attorney General to enforce campaign
finance laws, but the proposals didn’t survive the committee
process.
The senate version would also allow
legislators who are also attorneys to not report their incomes
because of client confidentiality concerns.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Paterson
drafted a letter to the leadership of the minority and majority
parties, asking to negotiate stricter ethics legislation.
-Jon
Alexander, 2-4-10
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