More sunlight needed on elected leaders

In the wake of George Santos’ lies and schemes, New York legislators should be primed to pass new laws strengthening state disclosure requirements and making it easier to catch those who are trying to hide something. 

The same hope was floated after the corruption scandals of Assemb. Sheldon Silver, State Sen. Dean Skelos, his colleague Malcolm Smith, and many of the other New York officials found guilty of wrongdoing. Yet not much changed.

Albany has hosted elected officials who swam in the swampy atmosphere for decades, an atmosphere of unaccountability that creates a political culture where someone like Santos can thrive. Broken oversight bodies and a culture of secrecy empower politicians who seek to profit off public service, a stain on the many honest officials who serve New York faithfully and well. After every scandal, a few tweaks are made, and a few news conferences held, without really changing the culture of impunity and furtiveness in the capital.

Lawmakers have a chance to start changing that cycle this year, during the March 12-18 period known as “Sunshine Week.”

Good government advocates in February sent a letter to the leaders of the State Legislature imploring them to work in concert to “to pass the same bills increasing transparency in New York.” That would be a change from years past, when the two chambers at different times supported and advanced different laudable measures, but rarely passed the same bills or pushed for certain anti-corruption measures to become law. That superficial approach provides them a record of voting for change, while never allowing it to happen.

Among the smart ideas that should be embraced by the legislature:

• Require members of the Assembly and Senate and candidates for those offices to file their financial disclosures in a more searchable electronic format.
• Add a question on those financial disclosure documents about holdings in crypto, an emerging and under-investigated source of donations and potential conflicts.
• Allow New Yorkers to access consultant reports paid for with public money, so that the public can learn more about how its money is spent, and also understand what outside groups are advising their agencies and officials to do.
• Bolster New York’s Open Meetings Law to make sure that public bodies that were a creation of law but are “purely advisory” still allow access to their meetings.

The more the public knows about the backgrounds, finances, and activities of its elected officials, the better. Privacy for legislators to find compromise on passing laws is warranted. But Albany’s consistent default to last-minute governing and hidden negotiations does a disservice to constituents who want to follow and participate in our democracy.

Sunlight cleanses, and also encourages public servants to do the right thing.