“I extend my sincere congratulations to my colleague, Carl Heastie, on his election to be the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. On this historic occasion of electing a new speaker after 21 plus years of rule under the previous leadership, the opportunity has presented itself to make significant reforms to allow the People’s House of the Legislature to operate in a true democratic fashion. I urge my Assembly colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take full advantage of this opportunity and immediately reform the Rules of the Assembly to ensure an open, transparent and inclusive government that functions for all New Yorkers across our State.

My hope is that we, as a body, will work together to serve all residents of the State of New York in order to make our State a better place. Although I would have preferred the process of electing a new speaker to include more dialogue on reforming the operation of the Chamber and to be more inclusive of members on both sides of the aisle, I’m hopeful that Speaker Carl Heastie will prove that he is an open and transparent leader, negotiator and communicator in dealing with members of the Assembly regardless of party affiliation or geographic location.”