“Following years of public disappointment in our elected officials, it’s now time we move forward in a positive light on how we can address the myriad of ethical issues that have plagued state government. Today’s bill helps us start addressing and managing the misdeeds of politicians and policy influencers. While the reform measure is not fully comprehensive, we do achieve some important things. Taxpayers will no longer have to pay for the pensions of convicted public officials, and we’ve broadened the scope on income and asset disclosure so we can know who may have an undue influence on elected officials.

“Ethics reform is something I believe in and have supported since day one, and as your assemblyman, I will continue to fight for that promise. It was my hope that the newly formed Joint Commission on Public Ethics would have had fairer and more bipartisan representation from not only the executive branch but also from the legislative houses. Today is just the beginning; we did the right thing, but we have to continue discussing the matter and find better ways to address ethics in state government.”