Assemblymen Christopher Friend (R,C,I-Big Flats) and Phil Palmesano (R,C,I-Corning) have joined with the entirety of the Assembly Minority Conference to combat Albany’s rampant corruption through the newly introduced Assembly bill 7393, also known as the “Public Officers Accountability Act.” This act builds on earlier anti-corruption proposals by the Assembly Minority that have called for the stripping of public pensions and the right of voters to hold recall elections of corrupt officials. The Assembly Majority voted down the advancement of both previous measures.

“The corruption occurring in Albany has reached embarrassing levels, and the people of this state deserve a legislative body that is held to a higher standard,” said Friend and Palmesano. “The Public Officers Accountability Act is a comprehensive plan to address corruption at its core. The Act clearly defines what unacceptable behavior is by removing the grey area that seems to permeate the inner workings of Albany. It is our hope that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and across the Capitol in the Senate, will recognize the common sense approach of this legislation and join our efforts.”

The Act contains a number of new initiatives that would create new crimes against the public trust, enact term limits for legislative leaders and reform campaign finance laws and fund usage. It also seeks to dissolve the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) and create a new Commission of Official Conduct. A breakdown of the proposed measures is as follows:

• Ban individuals convicted of felonies related to official duties from future public employment, lobbying activity or bidding on state contracts;
• Replace the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) with a new Commission on Official Conduct - a five-member panel made up of individuals appointed by State Court of Appeals jurists charged with oversight and investigation of public corruption matters;
• Implement eight-year term limits for legislative leaders and committee chairs;
• Institute member-item reforms that require every appropriation to be named and itemized in the State Budget; require the Governor or legislator requesting an appropriation to notify the Attorney General that no conflict of interest exists; and prohibit any appropriation when a conflict of interest exists – including appropriations to organizations that employ or compensate the Governor, a legislator, a family member, or any person sharing the home of the Governor or legislator;
• Create new crimes and increase penalties for those who act against the public trust or fail to report corruption;
• Limit the use of campaign funds to only campaign activities, prohibiting the use of funds for criminal defenses, salary payments to staff or family, vehicle purchases or leases and several other activities; and
• Require that the campaign funds of public officials convicted of a felony are returned to donors or turned over to charity.