Podcast: Dancing the con-con

After another legislative session in which the New York state Legislature decided against closing the so-called LLC loophole, Gov. Andrew Cuomo did what he usually does when he fails to act on ethics reform – throw up his hands to absolve himself of blame, and subsequently kick the can down the road.

“The people are going to have to do it,” Cuomo told the New York Times, alluding to the possibility of a constitutional convention in 2017.

On paper, that sounds like a great idea. If feckless state legislators aren’t interested in cleaning up Albany, let the people write an amendment in the state constitution codifying ethics reform. Problem solved, right?

If history is any indicator, not so much.

Former Assemblyman Arthur “Jerry” Kremer joins the Slant Podcast this week to talk about his new book – “Patronage, Waste, and Favoritism – A Dark History of Constitutional Conventions” – which, as you can probably guess from the title, paints a disheartening picture of what it takes to actually enact changes to the state constitution, a document significantly longer than that of the United States.

Our other guest is former Assemblyman Nelson Denis, who believes that a constitutional convention is the only avenue toward enacting ethics reform and getting money and corruption out of the politics.

The two contrasting perspectives of these former legislators led to a spirited debate and conversation about the efficacy of constitutional conventions, including why the conventions are subject to being hijacked by special interests and why only one convention in state history – 1938 – resulted in new constitutional amendments.

You can download, review and subscribe to this episode of The Slant Podcast on iTunes or stream the episode via Stitcher.