Critics decry Cuomo move to expand powers

ALBANY -- The Cuomo administration's quiet move to expand the powers of his inspector general's office to give it access to the private tax records of state employees is "extremely dangerous," a top lawmaker said Monday.

Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse) was one of several lawmakers -- including the leader of the state Assembly -- to express strong concerns about an agreement that would give broad access to tax records to every employee of the inspector general's office.

"It could lead to simply fishing expeditions," said DeFrancisco, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "I just think it's very, very dangerous." He said it was his understanding that even prosecutors and state attorneys general would need a court order to get this information without the consent of a taxpayer.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration denied it was broadening the powers of the inspector general. It said the Jan. 20 "memorandum of understanding" between that office and the state Tax Department merely codified the inspector general's investigative powers.

But during a hearing Monday, state Tax Commissioner Thomas Mattox acknowledged that previously only one inspector general deputy had tax-record access. Under the memo, that would increase to 62 -- every member of the IG's office, even secretaries.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver expressed doubts about opening up tax records so broadly. "I just think there has to be some standards," said Silver (D-Manhattan). "Usually, there's a judicial intervention that's required in order to approve a subpoena for" access to such records.

Mattox testified that the Tax Department had a single employee who was deputized by the inspector general's office and could request tax return information. That position was eliminated, he said. Mattox said. Under the new practice, investigators would still have to get Tax Department permission to obtain records.

Late in the day, the Cuomo administration issued a statement saying the change was done for efficiency.

"In light of this consolidation, the agencies entered into a memorandum of understanding to ensure that the Deputy Tax Inspectors General maintained the same authority and function as they always had," the statement said. "The [memorandum] does not and was not intended to expand or diminish any authority or function, and to assert otherwise would be wrong."

Dick Dadey, executive director of the good government group Citizens Union, called the expansion of access "a bold grasp for investigative power."

"We want to grant strong authority to those who investigate possible corruption in our state," Dadey said. "But we also want to respect the privacy of individuals and employees, which is why this power was restricted to only those in the tax department."The controversy came just days after Cuomo's Inspector General Ellen Biben, whose career has been closely tied to the governor, was named to head the state's new ethics commission.