Two weeks ago, following six months of failed leadership and broken promises by Senator Malcolm Smith and his conference colleagues, a bipartisan coalition of Senators advanced and approved leadership changes and a series of landmark legislative rules reforms, that will fundamentally change for the better the way the Senate conducts the people’s business.
The sweeping rules reforms resolve many of the issues and concerns that unfortunately earned the NYS Legislature the dubious moniker as the most dysfunctional legislature in the country. The reforms, historic in both its impact and scope, will provide for the fair, equitable and nonpartisan administration of the Senate, a very far departure from the leader-driven, heavy-handed, secretive culture embraced by Senator Smith and his conference colleagues.
In effect, these rules reforms will help make sure the “three-men-in-a-room” debacle that lead to the enactment of the fiscally irresponsible state budget earlier this year will never happen again.
Senator Smith and his conference colleagues cannot deny that the landmark rules reforms adopted by the bipartisan coalition will change the dysfunctional and irresponsible culture that marked their tenure.
Even one of their own colleagues, Senator Liz Krueger, in a moment of candor and reflection wrote, “I believe many of my colleagues adopted a ‘to the victor goes the spoils’ model, and while I repeatedly argued against this, in the end, the conference was not willing to go as far down the reform road as they should have.”
Sadly, instead of supporting these rules reforms and living up to the constitutional oath they swore to uphold, Senator Smith and 30 of his fellow colleagues have decided to go on strike and as result the business of the Senate has ground to a halt.
For five straight legislative session days, 31 Senators including myself waited for Senator Smith and his fellow colleagues to show up and work. Instead they remained in hiding.
As a result of their work stoppage, critically important and time sensitive legislation such as the extending and improving Mayoral control of NYC schools hangs in the balance.
Instead of presenting “power sharing plans” that are really power grabs and stalling in court, Smith and his conference colleagues need to get back to work and realize one clear and simple fact – that the rules reforms and leadership changes adopted by the bipartisan coalition places power where it really belongs: amongst 62 senators representing all of New York.
