Some Good Ideas, but State of the State Disappoints on Transparency, Clean Gov’t

Governor Hochul said, “From day one, I’ve been committed to restoring New Yorkers’ faith in their government by improving transparency and increasing accountability.” Yet, few of the 207 specific policy proposals in her State of the State speech are about strengthening New York’s democracy or broadly expanding the transparency and accountability of New York’s huge and expensive state government. 

There are dozens of good, practical ideas in the State of the State and we hope the Legislature heeds them. Unfortunately, the affordability Governor Hochul seeks – and the efficient New York government she envisions – will not happen unless there are major reforms in how New York is governed. We believe it is obvious to anyone paying attention that government spending and decision-making in New York State remains profoundly warped by big-spending campaign contributors and lobbyists, be they from business, organized labor, vendors seeking state contracts, or institutions dependent on state funds.   

Governor Hochul should be proud that she aggressively defended the state public campaign matching system, which has made our democracy stronger, and that she created a more independent ethics agency, which has made our government cleaner. These are important steps towards increasing public confidence in state government and reducing the stranglehold of special interests that keeps New York government from translating enormous spending into enormous public benefits. 

Government Transparency and Clean Government in the State of the State

1. Database and dashboard for state capital projects.
2. Public-facing property inventory map of state assets.
3. Office of Innovation and Efficiency initiative may improve transparency. 

What We Would Like the Governor to Include in Her Executive Budget and Legislative Priorities

1. Package of bills strengthening the beleaguered Freedom of Information Law.
2. Commitment to the most independent State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) pending court decision (see groups’ amicus in support of independent ethics oversight).
3. Comptroller program bill barring contractors from making campaign contributions to statewide elected officials while bidding on NYS contracts.
4. Honest and above-board budget that allows robust Comptroller oversight of state contracts, bonding, and spending; curtails giant slush funds and secret MOU based spending; and ends abuse of emergency contracting and spending.