Silver, Tedisco Unveil Proposed Assembly Rules Changes

Reforms Reflect Ongoing Commitment To Strengthen Committee Process,
Enhance Member Participation And Expand Floor Debate

As part of a continuing effort to update and reform proceedings and operations of the New York State Assembly, Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco today announced the passage of additional changes to the official Rules governing the body and other related reforms.

"These Rules changes are part of the Assembly's bipartisan effort to promote a more open, accountable and effective Legislature," said Silver. "We are reaffirming our commitment to strengthening the committee system, enhancing member participation, streamlining legislative procedures, expanding time for floor debate and requiring ethics training for all members and staff."

"This is a step in the right direction. It is my hope that 'rules' reform becomes an annual process where we pursue continuous quality improvement to the people's house," said Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R,C,I - Schenectady, Saratoga).

Silver and Tedisco noted that the Rules (K.503) changes approved today build upon the landmark reforms established in 2005. The new Rules would strengthen the role and voice of rank-and-file members, ensure that every bill receives the full consideration of a standing committee and establishes an ethics training program.

Improving the Legislative Process

The Rules changes proposed by the Assembly would improve the legislative process by:

• Mandating that all Assembly bills go through a standing committee other than the Assembly Committee on Rules;

• Convening monthly meetings of the Committee on Conference Committees that was established in the 2005 Rules changes. The committee would carefully review the requests by the sponsors of bills that have passed the Assembly for their bill to be considered for a review by a joint conference committee of the Senate and Assembly;

• Streamlining the legislative process by placing bills that passed the Assembly in the first year of a two-year legislative term directly on the calendar in the second year;

• Enhancing the "99" rule. The "99" rule allows the sponsor of a bill to require that his or her particular bill be considered by a committee. Under the new Rules, members would be able to use the "99" form throughout the first year of a legislative session and up until the first Tuesday in May of the second year. Committees would be required to schedule by the third Tuesday in May when bills with 99 requests are to be considered; and

• Expanding the time for debate by more than 15 percent. This rule change would allow members, who are currently allowed 30 minutes of debate per bill, an additional five minutes for the sponsor to make an opening statement.

Establish Ethics Training Program

The new Rules call for members of the Assembly Committee On Ethics and Guidance to develop a comprehensive ethics training course that would be mandatory for all Assembly members and staff. The Rules would be amended to require an equal number of Majority and Minority members to serve on the committee.

Increase Base Staff Allocation

To ensure that all members of the Assembly have the resources they need to effectively represent their communities in Albany, the base staff allocation would be increased from $70,000 to $85,000.

Enhance Member Participation

The Rules reforms contain provisions to strengthen the participation of rank and file members throughout the legislative process, including the expansion of the time period for bill introductions and increasing the time period for motions to discharge. It also would establish, for the first time, a pre-file period to allow bills to be introduced in November before the next session.

Expanding Television Access

Another component of the new reforms advanced by Silver and Tedisco looks to expand televised proceedings of the Legislature. Currently, televised coverage is primarily limited to Assembly and Senate floor proceedings.

With these changes, the Assembly takes another step forward toward the goal it announced when their proceedings were first televised statewide in 2001, establishing a full state government channel, similar to C-SPAN. The Assembly hopes to partner with the Senate to expand television access so that the public can monitor and better understand the proceedings of their state government.

In order to achieve this goal, a new joint rule is proposed, which would also have to be approved by the Senate, to create a bipartisan and bicameral advisory board. The board would oversee efforts to expand coverage to other legislative proceedings, including the Webcast or broadcast of all committee meetings.

Historic 2005 Rules Reforms

In 2005, the Assembly Rules were overhauled for the first time in a generation, ending open seat voting, requiring the rules committee to meet in public and numerous other procedural reforms.