“Each year, New York’s lawmakers spend the final days of the legislative session debating and voting on a seemingly endless list of locally focused bills, and this past week was no exception. Unfortunately for New Yorkers, another recent Albany tradition was upheld this year as state leadership allowed another session to pass by without addressing the growing statewide calls for meaningful ethics reform to clean up corruption in our state Capital.

“The Assembly Majority and governor’s stubborn unwillingness to take up measures to ensure accountable, transparent and ethical leadership is at best tone-deaf to the needs of residents across New York who has lost trust in their state government. At worst, this glaring failure leaves them culpable in perpetuating the corrupt environment of bid-rigging and pay-to-play politics that has plagued our state’s economic development programs, leading to the misuse of billions of our hard-earned tax dollars and the indictments and convictions of several of the governor’s top aides and donors.

“I was additionally disheartened to see nothing done this year to make New York more affordable for our hardworking families. Reducing our state’s crippling tax burden should be a top priority for lawmakers each and every year. Instead, we were treated to the same unsustainable spending and misguided investments that have saddled New Yorker’s with some of the nation’s highest taxes.”

“Although this year’s legislative session has come to an end, our work is far from over. I look forward to continuing to push for the changes we need to clean up Albany and deliver New Yorkers the honest and efficient state government they deserve.”