Archive: Opinions

When Senate Democrats campaigned last fall, they promised voters change and reform.  However, they broke their promises and abandoned Upstate New Yorkers.  They said they would give every member a say in the legislative and budget process and that they would take power away from the leaders. They said their reforms would result in stronger representation and a more open, fair and accountable state government.

Instead, Senator Malcolm Smith abandoned open conference committees, shut the public and legislators out of the process and delivered a disastrous budget that increased spending by a record $13 billion, eliminated property tax rebates, increased taxes by $8.5 billion and did nothing to boost the Upstate economy.

Senator Smith routinely stifled debate, made a mockery of the committee processes and controlled all the power.  This deterioration of the legislative process lead two Democrats to join with 30 Republicans to create a bipartisan Reform Coalition.

Our coalition immediately adopted new rules to deliver on the promises that the former Senate leadership failed to keep.  The new rules place term limits on legislative leaders and create a more open, bipartisan and member-driven body to change the leader-driven culture of Albany for the benefit of all New Yorkers.

Every New Yorker deserves to have their Senator be able to introduce, and have a fair chance of passing legislation.  Every New Yorker deserves to have their Senator have a voice in the budget process.

The new rules guarantee more accountability, transparency, efficiencies, balance and fairness in the Senate.  I am calling on my Democratic colleagues in both the New York State Assembly and Senate to join our bi-partisan Reform Coalition so we can put these new rules into law. The result will be better representation in both houses of the State Legislature on behalf of the constituents we represent and better results for taxpayers, businesses and families in New York State and our region.

As more Senators join our reform coalition, my colleagues and I will move forward to address the issues of job creation and tax relief that are critically important to the people of Upstate New York.

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