Borelli Slams Silver For Conflicts Of Interest And His Unfair Burden On Taxpayers

July 4, 2013

Assemblyman Joe Borelli (R,C,I-South Shore) attacked Speaker Sheldon Silver after his disclosure of his income and investment holdings. Old reporting requirements only mandated he indicate whether his outside income exceeded $1,000 per year and did not force him to disclose investment assets. He reported 2012 earnings up to $450,000 from law firm Weitz & Luxenberg.

“The truth is laid bare and for all the public to see. Does anybody really believe he’d be paid almost half a million dollars for a part-time law job if he wasn’t Speaker of the Assembly,” asked Assemblyman Borelli. “For years, Shelly Silver has been the roadblock to badly needed tort reform legislation, particularly New York’s outrageous ‘Scaffold Law.’ Now, we know why. Silver and his firm have been prime beneficiaries of laws that give plaintiffs a major advantage in litigation.”

“New Yorkers see right through this. Here is a man who makes $450,000 only because he is who he is, and, yet, still pays his legal bills out of the public till. The irony shouldn’t be lost. A high-price attorney at one of the wealthiest law firms in the state will now get defended on the taxpayers’ dime,” continued Borelli. “And all because he made inappropriate use of tax dollars in the first place. To say that this adds insult to injury would be an understatement.”

Speaker Silver has been under fire since last year when it was revealed that he approved hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to keep quiet sexual harassment victims of former Assemblyman Vito Lopez. He was recently sued by those same victims who claim the secret settlement only emboldened Lopez. The Speaker’s defense will be paid for by the state as it relates to his behavior as a public officer.

The Speaker’s net worth including stock assets ranges between $3.813 million to $6 million. In 2010, about half of his reported stock holdings were with companies that had business before the state, and the Speaker has denied referring those entities to his law firm or helping clients with state business.

“How can we trust the word of a man who has a record of operating behind closed doors,” asked Borelli. “I’m just glad that the ethics law reforms passed in 2011 are starting to bear some fruit.”

The new disclosure requirements only affect reporting from 2012 onward. Previous years’ filings do not need to conform to the new law, and it’s unclear whether investments or income packages were changed to avoid provoking additional scrutiny due to the new mandate.

“The sad fact is that we will likely never know the extent of Shelly Silver’s conflicts of interest,” concluded Borelli. “I think if he is at all interested in regaining the public trust, he should start by disclosing his assets since he was Speaker under the new standard, footing the bill for his own defense, and beginning a dialogue on reforming the rules governing outside income by legislators.”

Assemblyman Joseph Borelli represents the South Shore-based 62nd District.

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