CBGNY
Reform Platform for
2008 - 2009
New York's serious problems
are not being addressed because the machinery of government
in Albany is broken. The "circle of broken government" works
like this:
- Legislators are not accountable to the people, because
rigging ("gerrymandering") of legislative districts
by political parties assures virtual lifetime employment
to incumbents.
- Legislators are therefore motivated to
pay attention to party leaders and powerful special interests,
not the
problems of the State or the interests of the people.
- The Legislature doesn't
work, because the operating Rules of the Assembly and
Senate give absolute power to two
men - Assembly Speaker, and the Senate Majority
Leader. This concentration of power
excludes our representatives from decision making, silences
the voice of the people, and gives priority to political
agendas and special interests.
- Citizens have no recourse
against abuse of power or poor government, because
their representatives are firmly
entrenched and not accountable to the people.
Our Long Term Platform: The Three R's of Real Reform:
Rules Changes in the Legislature: to
restore representative democracy to a Legislature that
has been described
as the "most dysfunctional" in the nation;
Redistricting: to require
an independent, non-partisan commission to establish competitive
legislative districts
that make sense and ensure accountability.
Referendum and Initiative: to establish a check-and-balance
process that gives citizens greater voice for influencing
public policy.
How the Three R's will rescue New York State from ineffective
government:
Working together, the Three R's will abolish the "circle
of broken government", and get our State moving
forward again by:
- Breaking the stranglehold of
two men on the Legislature, and restoring our elected
representatives to their rightful
role in a governmental process that works;
- Eliminating
gerrymandering, thereby making legislators accountable
to the people, and forcing them to pay
attention to the State's problems and the needs of citizens;
- Giving citizens power
to participate in government if Albany fails in its
responsibility to address the serious
problems of New York State.
[CBGNY is a non-partisan, not-for-profit
citizens' organization dedicated to improving New York
State by improving its government, with special emphasis
on the Legislature.] |
1. Rules Changes
The Rules of the Assembly and Senate must be changed to assure the legislative
process is open, fair, democratic, deliberative, transparent, effective,
and accountable to citizens.
The method for turning ideas into law is defined in
the lengthy Rules of the Assembly and Senate. These
Rules form the foundation of the legislative process
in New York.
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State's legislative process
described as the "most dysfunctional in the nation." |
The problem is that the current “Rules” institutionalize
leadership power. Leaders in both chambers have absolute
authority. This includes control of funding, resources,
and staffing for committees and legislators. This means
that two people have the power to sidestep the will
of our elected legislators and the voices of the people
they represent.
Also, chronic gridlock is the norm in Albany, because
there is no requirement for conference committees to
reconcile the differences between bills passed by each
house on similar subjects.
Our Position: The Assembly and Senate
must reform their operating rules to:
- Restore our elected representatives to
their rightful role in the legislative process
- Eliminate
the stranglehold of the Assembly Leader and Senate
Majority Leader on the committees, legislative
agenda, calendar, and process
- Eliminate barriers that keep legislation from getting
to the full Assembly or Senate for review, debate,
amendment, and vote by our elected representatives
- Revitalize a committee system that is currently weak,
dysfunctional, and subservient to the leaders
- Make the entire legislative process open, transparent,
and accountable through public hearings, public
records of activities and votes, and reports
- Eliminate chronic gridlock by requiring conference
committees to reconcile differences between bills
passed by each house
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2. Redistricting
The New York State legislature has an undemocratic partisan redistricting process.
The current process allows legislative districts to be created by legislators
to ensure incumbents safe districts and therefore reelection. Assembly
and Senate leaders control the drawing of legislative district lines.
This process is referred to as “gerrymandering” a
term coined in 1812. The problem is that representatives
are choosing their voters, rather than voters choosing
their representatives. |
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Our Position: Pass legislation (or ideally
a constitutional amendment) that provides for an independent
redistricting commission with specific rules to:
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3. Referendum and Initiative
Most commonly referred to as “I & R”. Referendum refers to
the power of the people to place on the ballot laws that already have been
enacted by the Legislature and either accept or reject them in whole or in
part. Initiative is a proposed statutory or constitutional change that is placed
on the ballot for a popular vote.
Together, they hold the promise to improve the operation
and quality of New York State government. The problem is that New York State does not have either practice
or procedure. |
About half of U.S states have functioning
Referendum and / or Initiative but not NY. |
Our Position: A constitutional amendment
to provide Referendum and Initiative in order to:
- make government more responsive;
- counterbalance the power of special interests;
- stimulate public involvement in the political
process;
- provide for a greater system of checks and
balances; and
- enhance direct democracy.
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