Cuomo, Heastie Announce Ethics Deal

Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a rare move this week announced an ethics deal with the Assembly—but not with the state Senate.

The governor and new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie outlined on Wednesday a five-point ethics reform plan that did not include an agreement with state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Cuomo’s decision to announce a partial deal is outside his norm and was clearly designed to put pressure on Senate Republicans, who are said to be engaged in ongoing negotiations with the governor.

“We do need to be able to say there is a system in place that is design to prevention such actions, detect actions if they occur and punish them if they do. That is our obligation,” Cuomo said. “We have accomplished to my satisfaction [that ethics reform] agenda."

“When I assumed the leadership of the New York State Assembly, I assured the voters of this state that their government is working for them,” Heastie said. “I assured them that by whatever means necessary, we would do everything in our power to regain their trust and to bring true reform and accountability into these halls. Today, the Assembly Majority took a monumental step toward fulfilling that promise.”

Here’s an analysis of the five-point ethics deal:

Outside income

The agreement between the governor and the Assembly would require legislators who receive outside income to disclose the source of the compensation in excess of $1,000 and disclose the name of the client in excess of $5,000. Legislators who are employed by law firms and who, for example, are serving as counsel and have no specific clients are also required to disclose their income. A lawmaker who is paid to bring in clients, but does not represent them, must also disclose those clients.

“It applies to representation, to consultation and it applies to advice,” said Alfonso David, counsel to the governor.

While the focus was on lawyers, the rules also apply to all professions licensed by the state and NYSED. The new requirements exclude sensitive cases, such as child custody and marital issues. Lawmakers are also excluded from having to disclose all the clients at a law firm at which they work—they must only disclose the specific clients they are working for.

When asked by a reporter if there was anything an elected official could do to collect a salary from a law firm without having clients, David said, “I can’t think of one.”

The ethics “deal” does not include an agreement from state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who currently receives outside income from a law firm.

If any lawmaker fails to comply with the ethics disclosure, there are measures in place to empower JCOPE and prosecutors—whether they be the state attorney general or any prosecutor who falls under that jurisdiction—to enforce the disclosure. The deal also includes more funding for JCOPE. Failing to disclose could result in charges such as fraud, intentional misrepresentation or false filing.

“We’re looking closely at JCOPE to see how we might be able to refine the agency to address [concerns that JCOPE is not proactive enough about enforcing anti-corruption laws],” David told reporters.

If passed, the new disclosure requirements will go into effect Dec. 31, 2015, but lawmakers will not be required to disclose income prior to that date. Every May, all public officials are required to file a financial disclosure statement, so the first financial disclosure statement under these new rules would be May 2016.

Pension forfeiture

All public officials who are convicted of public corruption would forfeit their pension, including those who entered the retirement system before enactment of the pension forfeiture law in 2011. However, this measure requires a constitutional amendment by the Legislature and voter approval in 2017. It also only applies to the guilty party; innocent spouses would be protected under the law.

Per diem reform

The oft-criticized per diem system would also see an overhaul under the new ethics deal. The Legislature would install an electronic system to verify attendance of each lawmaker at “an official event.” The speaker would develop and implement policies to verify attendance and establish standards and limits for reimbursable events.

In addition, the Legislature would create a publicly accessible website documenting lawmakers’ travels.

The Assembly can move forward with these new rules immediately, but the state Senate has yet to agree.

Prohibition of personal use of campaign funds

The agreement would also bar elected officials from using campaign finance for personal use, such as “residential home purchases, mortgage payments, rent, clothing, tuition payments, salaries for individuals not performing campaign work, admissions to sporting events, fines and penalties, and dues for country clubs and health clubs.”

Most of these were already prohibited by the state Board of Election; dues would be the only new requirement. The new law expands the definition of “dues” and aims to make it clear that lawmakers cannot use campaign funds for anything unrelated to the campaign.

In the report from the now-defunct Moreland Commission, lawmakers were found to have spent campaign funds on things like golf clubs, tanning beds and country club memberships—all of which would no longer be allowed.

However, elected officials will still be able to use campaign funds to pay for lawyers before they are convicted of a crime, even for charges related to their office—as Cuomo is doing, for example. The governor defended the move by calling legal fees a “function of being in office.”

These new rules would take effect immediately.

Campaign finance disclosure

The new deal would expand the requirement for disclosing independent expenditures to include spending made within 60 days before a general or special election and 30 days before a primary election that reference a clearly identified client. Cuomo called independent expenditures “the great loophole in the system” that have “made a mockery of campaign finance laws.”

The new rules would make clear the powers of the state Board of Elections enforcement unit. The unit could now go ahead and bring actions without necessarily needing full approval of the board.

The LLC loophole, which allows corporations and individuals to donate to campaigns unchecked, was not included in the agreement. 

Senate Republicans have yet to publicly respond to the deal.