Assembly Minority Leader Charles H. Nesbitt and members of the Assembly Minority Conference were joined today by representatives of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law to call on the Assembly to make legislative reform the first order of business when it returns for the new session beginning January 2005.

"Assembly Minority members have been banging the drum for reform for years and we are encouraged that a recent groundswell of public support, spurred on by the Brennan Center's report on the state Legislature, has put the issue at the forefront statewide," said Leader Nesbitt (R,C,I-Albion). "The 2004 elections are over and I am hopeful that all of the campaign promises - in which seemingly every candidate labeled themselves a reformer - were not simply election rhetoric but sincere commitments to reform. We urge the Speaker and all of our Majority colleagues to make reform the first priority of the Assembly's when the new legislative term begins in January."

Scott Schell, spokesperson for the Brennan Center said, "Since the release of the Brennan Center report in July, the people of New York state have been demanding an end to 'business as usual' in Albany. We all know that bipartisan efforts are rarely seen in the Legislature. Today, by joining the push for reform, Leader Nesbitt and the Minority Conference are saying to the people of New York that this reform effort is real, it's gaining steam, and positive change is near at hand."

Assembly Minority members have offered sweeping reforms to the Assembly rules at the beginning of each legislative cycle for the past decade. Recently, all 47 Minority members pledged support to the Assembly rules reforms recommended by the Brennan Center (with minor exceptions) and have said they will support the latest version of a resolution sponsored by Assembly Majority member Scott Stringer and 25 other Assembly Majority members as a positive first step towards achieving reform.

In addition to those proposals, Assembly Minority members are also advocating a number of measures that would go much further towards achieving a more open, responsible and responsive state government in New York and giving greater voice to rank and file legislators.

"During the 2005 legislative session, Assembly Minority members will be bringing every one of these reform proposals to the floor of the Assembly for a full vote by the entire house," said Leader Nesbitt.

Among the measures that the Assembly Minority Conference has long championed, in addition to the Brennan Center's recommendations, are those to:

• further open the Motion to Discharge procedure, to allow for consideration of bills by the entire body despite inaction on the committee level;

• require that committee membership ratios reflect the ratio of Majority to Minority membership in the House (Under the current formula, the membership on each committee is calculated by determining the ratio of majority to minority members in the house, and giving to the Majority that ratio, plus any fractions, plus one additional member. For example, the Libraries Committee currently consists of eight Majority members and one Minority member.);

• allow the Ranking Minority Member on each committee to call for public hearings by the committee;

• require that when a motion to hold a bill fails in committee, that there shall immediately be a motion to report that bill;

• create a Member's Prerogative, which would allow each Member of the Assembly to bring at least one bill of statewide implication to the floor for a vote during each legislative term;

• require that the Rules Committee provide an agenda, and convene regularly scheduled meetings, as the other committees currently do;

• require that bills with Home Rule requests from local municipalities be considered in committee at the first meeting that is held after the bill has been in committee for three days;

• require a super-majority (2/3) vote for final passage of any bill that imposes, continues or revives a new tax;

• require that any bill on the calendar that imposes a mandate on localities or school districts, as well as any bill that would require additional taxes, be specifically labeled or identified as such on the calendar, and

• enact various provisions to ensure timely passage of the state budget, including a prohibition on consideration of non-budget bills after April 1st if a budget is not in place, and the convening of budget conference committees no later than March 15th of each year to facilitate the process of finalizing a budget before the April 1st deadline.