Those who betray the public trust and steal from taxpayers should never receive a publicly-funded pension or retirement benefits, period. That has been the battle cry of Assembly Minority for years, and this week our intense and unwavering efforts finally came to fruition.

The Assembly overwhelmingly passed the pension forfeiture bill, which will now go to a statewide ballot referendum in November. This is a major victory in the fight against corruption and I encourage citizens across our state to make their voices heard and solidify this as law in the fall.

Although we realized a major victory in pension forfeiture, a number of proposals that would have undoubtedly increased transparency, accountability and openness were killed by New York City Politicians. These were common-sense things like term limits for committee chairs and legislative leaders, requiring a vote by two-thirds of the house to expedite controversial bills for an immediate vote, and equal staff allocations for all members of the house.

Assembly Minority offer these reforms year after year, only to have them crushed by the myopic and self-serving downstate machine. When Assembly Majority talks about ethics reform, that’s all it is, talk, grandstanding and false promises.

I am proud to say that we made a major push for ridesharing legalization upstate and I spoke at a press conference earlier this week on the multitude of economic and public safety benefits companies like Uber and Lyft could provide. It is ridiculous that 38 other states allow this service and our state confines this to the privileged New York City crowd.

I will continue to remain vigilant on ethics reform and upstate ridesharing as we come closer to budget negotiations, and I encourage my constituents and all New Yorkers to join the movement and make it a reality this year.