Contact: Michael Fraser, (518) 455-3751
"The reforms offered by the Assembly Majority might help build a better website, but they don't do enough to rebuild the public's trust. Term limits for leaders and committee chairs are still noticeably absent in our house. Legislation with 76 sponsors carries enough support to pass an up-or-down vote, but can still be blocked from ever seeing the floor of the Assembly.
Members of the Assembly Majority proposed several rules reforms today that they voted against two months ago. Let's hope the actual reforms create more efficiencies than the process it took to get here.
While I am pleased that a number of Minority-sponsored measures were included in the recommendations, it's discouraging the final product doesn't appear to include the type of substance one should expect from a year-long endeavor.
Any steps toward changing the culture in Albany are worthwhile. But these recommendations still fall woefully short of facilitating the dramatic change we need."