New York, NY – New York State Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF, Manhattan) expressed regret that the New York State Senate was unable to muster the two-thirds majority necessary to override Governor Paterson’s veto of ethics legislation. Although the original legislation passed both houses of the New York State Legislature by overwhelming margins, the unexpected refusal of the Senate Minority conference to participate in the override vote doomed the bill’s passage.

“The veto override’s failure means that an opportunity for substantive reform has been squandered,” said Assemblymember Rosenthal. “While not as strong and uncompromising as the ethics reform I would have personally drafted, the bill was a considerable step forward toward redeeming the legislature from scandal and restoring the public’s trust. The veto of this incredibly sensible legislation is pure election year politics and comes at the expense of sound public policy.”

Originally passed by the Assembly on January 20, 2010, bill A.9544 would have offered a range of upgrades to the existing system, empowering the Board of Elections and creating a New Office of Legislative Ethics that would deliberately exclude lawmakers and lobbyists as board members. As a result, these regulatory agencies would require better disclosure from lobbyists, elected officials to more thoroughly report outside income and mandate the disclosure of both the fundraising and release of independent political expenditures conducted by organizations advocating for or against political campaigns.

“This bill would have offered oversight to an environment in tremendous need of accountability,” Rosenthal said. “Increased disclosure requirements for campaigns, contributors, lobbyists and lawmakers alike would have helped build a better political culture and ultimately advance progressive goals such as fairer housing legislation for tenants. The bill would have curtailed the power of special interests like the real estate industry from blocking my bill to repeal vacancy decontrol and fight tenant harassment.”

Assemblymember Rosenthal said, “I was proud to stand with trusted organizations like the League of Women Voters, Citizens Union and the New York Public Interest Research Group in support of this legislation. While I continue to hold myself to the highest ethical standard, the failure of the Senate to override the Governor’s veto of ethics legislation is a regrettable development.”