Reform, reform, reform. In 2004, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University released a groundbreaking report, a report that served as a searing indictment of the poor government that pervades Albany. Reform, urged the Brennan Center report, and as a result, the Albany establishment kicked it into high gear. Candidates from both parties demanded change, calling for an end to the current legislative process in which all the power is held by the governor, Assembly speaker and State Senate majority leader. The little guy deserves a say, and we’ll work hard to make that happen, was the refrain from the heights of Albany.
Last week, the Brennan Center released a new report, documenting the reform it has seen since that first report. What improvements has the report uncovered? Not many. “The legislature has taken positive steps towards reform,” said Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice. “But Albany still fails to meet the most basic tests of accountability and effectiveness.” For all the bluster, just what is the verdict on Albany’s vaunted reform movement?
“Blah, blah, blah.”
Some are not surprised. “The Brennan Center understands the importance of reforming business-as-usual in Albany. It is my hope their work lights a fire underneath my colleagues in the Republican-controlled Senate, who continue to ignore the recommendations of the Center’s 2004 report,” said Manhattan State Senator Liz Krueger. “We all know that business has barely even begun when it comes to having an open and transparent government in New York.”
Krueger went on to blame State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and his Republican caucus for much of the delay in reforming Albany. But the Assembly, controlled by Democratic Speaker Sheldon Silver, has not fared much better. Failure to reform in Albany is a bipartisan issue, and it should surprise no one that Silver and Bruno are not interested in giving up the power they worked so hard to attain over the years. Until the original report was released in 2004, members of the state legislature did not even have to show up to work to have their votes counted. Their leadership just voted for them.
Waldman and the Brennan Center outline some key problems facing the state legislature, noting that transparency is almost nonexistent and rank-and-file members have little or no say on legislation unless their leadership tells them to speak. The new study even noted that, in the last two years, not a single bill has been voted down by either house once it reached the floor. And when those rank-and-file members do speak up about their mistreatment, they lose what little scraps they normally receive from their master’s table.
The Brennan Center offers four simple steps to fix the problem, calling on Albany leaders to implement modest reforms that sound perfectly reasonable, such as allowing rank-and-file members to force hearings and votes on bills in both committees and allocating equal funding for staffing among all members. The ability of leadership to keep bills off the floor is an issue in need of desperate reform, claims Krueger, since it keeps good bills from becoming law. “The majority leader has complete control over what bills are brought to the Senate floor for debate and vote. As a result, very good, popular legislation that would pass under normal circumstances, never sees the light of day,” said Krueger.
Waldman seems to imply that reform is on the way. “Over the coming months we are nearing a reform moment, when real change is possible. That change will be far easier if it begins with continued change in the way the legislature works,” said Waldman. Whatever could he mean? Perhaps he speaks of Democrat Eliot Spitzer, the likely next governor of New York. Spitzer has made reforming Albany a key component of his campaign, and has hinted that both Bruno and Silver will experience a new way of doing business. As a Republican, Bruno likely has no expectations that he will be able to deal with Spitzer, at least at the start, but Silver’s oncoming collision with fellow Democrat Spitzer is meaningful as far as reform goes.
But can Spitzer handle that reform? On his way to the governor’s mansion, Spitzer brokered deals with every Democratic power broker in the state. Many critics have already begun to wonder if Spitzer will be able to look his friends in the eye and say “no.” Spitzer should certainly get the benefit of the doubt, but his first few months in office will certainly make up the minds of many on whether the attorney general is as true a reformer as he says he is.
For now, those on the outside, like Krueger, will just have to sit back and wait for him to arrive, though they are sure that reform business is about to pick up. “I am confident this report will help galvanize the reform movement much as the 2004 report did, and it will illustrate to people that our work is nowhere near done,” she added.
