Coalition: 'Crime wave' growing at Capitol

ALBANY - A "crime wave" is accelerating at the State Capitol, according to a coalition of good government groups.

The number of lawmakers who have left because of criminal charges or ethical misconduct has tripled in recent years, according to the groups, which are pushing for tougher ethics laws. From 2005-10, 13 legislators and one governor left the Legislature or were voted out while facing ethics allegations; just four legislators left during the previous six years.

"We are witnessing a crime wave here in Albany that needs to be stopped," said Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union. "There are many good and decent state legislators with high ethical standards, but the rapidly growing number of elected officials who have left office because they violated the public trust is a big unaddressed problem."

Citizens Union joined with the League of Women Voters and the New York Public Interest Research Group in calling for the creation of a new ethics agency that has jurisdiction over the executive and legislative branches - currently, the Legislature has its own, separate ethics commission.

The groups also want greater disclosure of lawmakers' outside income and legal and business clients. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has made a strong push for tougher ethics laws, saying it's the best thing lawmakers can do for their reputations.

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Tom Libous (R-Binghamton) said negotiations among Cuomo, Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats are continuing.

"I don't think there's any holdup on the Senate side," Libous said. "I think there's holdup on negotiating different points among the three parties. There's issues involving who polices who, who gets appointments, that sort of thing, the same issues that have come up in the Capitol for the last 100 years."

Lawmakers have voiced concerns about the meaning of "full disclosure." Some who are lawyers have questioned whether a law firm - not just the lawmaker who is part of a firm - would have to disclose all of its clients. Others who are bank board members wonder if their bank would have to disclose all its customers.

Assem. Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) has offered qualified support for an ethics bill, saying disclosure should cover those outside clients who are involved in a state activity.

"We believe in the disclosure of the sources of outside income and the disclosure of any customers or clients who do business with the state," Silver said through spokeswoman Sisa Moyo.

The good government groups' full report can be found at www.citizensunion.org.

With Michael Amon