Assemblyman Bill Nojay (R,C) criticized the reform measures put forth by the Assembly Democrats this week. Following last year’s corruption convictions of former Speaker Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Skelos, there has been an intense call for legislative reforms to prevent any future incidences of corruption. Nojay said this week’s resolution, instead of dealing honestly with fighting corruption, is simply posturing and will do very little to prevent further corruption.
“Despite almost an entire year of commissions and grandstanding from the governor down to our rank-and-file Assembly Majority members, this week’s proposal does nothing to push serious reform,” said Nojay. “Nowhere in this resolution is there anything that addresses term limits or pension forfeiture, which together exemplify the core of Albany’s unethical culture. The Democrats’ refusal to implement meaningful reform is further evidence of their lack of sincerity toward true reform.
“The people of New York are simply exhausted from hearing about corruption in their government. From Spitzer to Silver the nation has watched as New York has become the posterchild for corruption and that is simply unacceptable. This legislation is only a knee jerk reaction to what the people want to hear and not what needs to be done. If we ever intend to restore integrity to our Legislature we must impose term limits to legislative leaders, revoke the pensions of guilty criminal legislators and allow bills with extensive support to come to the floor for a vote regardless of those in power,” Nojay said.
