Many, many voices--elected officials, reformers and editorial pages alike--have weighed in with disdain about the allocation of pet projects in the federal and state budgets, known as member items here at home. Last week, the Senate and Assembly released their member item data, renewing calls from around the state for change. It's worth summarizing the reaction from many points of view:

The practice is bad from a budget standpoint. In a year when lawmakers were trying to find something, anything, to cut from the budget, many say it's irresponsible to allow legislators to dole out pork like any other year. As the Press & Sun-Bulletin notes, "Defenders of the cash piles argue that the 'discretionary items' they finance are small potatoes in a $122 billion budget. True, but those were our potatoes to begin with." Attorney General Cuomo's office is stepping up to try to eradicate outright corruption, but especially in a fiscal crunch, shouldn't we expect our elected officials to be a bit more careful with our tax dollars?

The practice is fundamentally unfair to districts that elect members of the minority party. Even if you agree that legislators should have some small pot of money to give to the most worthy causes in their districts, there is no excuse for partisan distribution of member items. The population of each legislative district is constitutionally required to be substantially equal, yet NYPIRG found that the average Assembly Republican doles out a mere quarter of the amount received by the district of the average Democrat. The Senate disparity is even worse, with Senate Republicans taking home eight times the pork of the average Democrat.

The practice is wholly political. As NYPIRG's numbers show, legislative leaders not only funnel more funding to majority members, but they also prioritize within their own conferences to help their most vulnerable members. Democratic senators are also talking about severely limited member item funding for Republicans if control of the Senate flips this fall. The current practice is despicable and its continuation after a Democratic takeover would be equally deplorable.

We second the notion that it's time New Yorkers received real equality and accountability in member items. Whether pork or potatoes, the distribution ought to be based on the worthiness of the project, not the political power of the individual representative and majority party.

My colleagues Andrew Stengel and Laura MacCleery have an op-ed in today's Times Union urging state lawmakers to once again take up negotiations on campaign finance reform. They argue that the deal reached by Governor Spitzer and legislative leaders last year should only be the starting point for an improved package of much-needed reforms, including lower contribution limits, elimination of loopholes, and enhanced enforcement.

In the spring of 2006, Boeing paid one of the largest fines ever imposed on a U.S. company for violating the Arms Export Control Act. From 2000 to 2003, the aerospace and defense giant had defied State Department regulations and warnings about the unauthorized export of commercial aircraft equipped with a microchip that had military applications. (By Jim Morris and Marina Walker Guevara)

Growing up in southeastern Washington State, Trisha Pritikin played among the waters and islands of the Columbia River and gave little thought to the looming neighbor upstream: the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a sprawling complex of factories where, beginning in the mid-1940s, the U.S. government secretly manufactured plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. Pritikin, whose parents worked at the Hanford site, was unaware that radioactive residues from the facility had not only contaminated her riverside playgrounds but had also leached into her yard, tainted the milk she drank, and possibly even been tracked across the rugs in her family's home. (By Marina Walker Guevara)

This Saturday, the New York Post ran an editorial under the headline "Voter-ID Hysteria" about the Supreme Court decision in the restrictive Indiana voter ID law and the subsequent response, most notably by Senator Schumer.

Without analyzing the failings of the decision, which our colleague Justin Levitt does brilliantly here and here, it's worth noting that the Post's editorial makes the false point that (what they call) voter fraud is a widespread problem. That simply isn't the case. Levitt proves that the notion of voter fraud is itself a fraud in his report "The Truth About Fraud."

The most common forms of government-issued photo ID are a drivers license and a passport (the Indiana law requires a current, i.e., non-expired ID). We take for granted that everybody surely has a government-issued photo ID. But why would you have an ID, which costs money, if you didn't need one?

We take for granted that everybody owns a car. We take for granted that everybody travels on airplanes. At the same time, we take for granted that millions of Americans rely on public transportation. And, we take for granted that million of Americans are in poverty. We shouldn't take for granted the right of everybody--read: all U.S. citizens at least 18 years of age--to vote.

While on a bus to DC this morning, our colleague Beth Foster spotted today's Albany Times Union editorial that takes Governor Paterson to task for not abiding by his predecessor's self-imposed $10,000 max contribution limit.

I posted earlier this week about the news under the title of The $55,900 Question. To reiterate, I don't blame the governor for not taking the pledge--I blame the high limits. Moreover, Governor Spitzer, who created (and skirted) the pledge had quite the Rolodex for fundraising given his elite pedigree.

In fact, in 1998 then-Attorney General candidate Spitzer admitted to the New York Times that his father loaned him money in 1994 to repay more than $9 million of bank notes to finance his first campaign. (Disclosure: I was a consultant to Eliot during his first run for attorney general, but had no knowledge of his campaign finances.) Our new governor, however, comes from a far more humble background.

Back to the issue at hand, as one of our wise coalition partners put it, we can't really expect a unilateral disarmament from Governor Paterson. So, in the meantime we trust there's work underway to fix the underlying problem.

However we'd be awfully disappointed if the Times Union turned out to be right: "Oh, Mr. Paterson may yet come out with a campaign finance reform proposal before the legislative session wraps up. He might feign indignation when it somehow fails to pass."

Echoing the words of the Chairman of the Board: We still have high hopes.

It's not often that legislators speak out on the need for rules reform, and less so when a leader of a house does. But that's what Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith did earlier this week in the Albany Times-Union:

"Legislative rules bottle up good ideas instead of setting them free. Bad ideas favored by special interests rush forward with little review or consideration, and good ideas are killed in committee, delayed, set aside or worse. In our state Senate, one person -- the majority leader -- can stop any piece of legislation from being considered, debated and voted on, regardless of the impact on millions of New Yorkers in need of government action. The current system of ethics and oversight has resulted in less public trust in government at a time when we need to demonstrate competence and effectiveness in order to deliver meaningful results for New Yorkers. All lawmakers and government officials must recognize and respect bright-line rules for fairness and accountability in the use of government resources, while avoiding clear conflicts of interest in their private and family lives."

True he's in the minority, which is actually only a single seat.

The full op-ed is here.

The Brennan Center, represented by Beth Foster, co-author of the last Albany rules update, and yours truly, attended Reform Day ‘08 with the leaders of Common Cause New York, NYPIRG, Citizens Union, Citizen Action, Democracy for New York, among others, and 150 passionate and knowledgeable activists from around the state.

Below are links to some of the media coverage that tell the story, but it’s worth talking about other news today: Governor Paterson reversing Governor Spitzer’s self-imposed $10,000 contribution limit. New York has some of the nation’s highest contributions limits—$55,900 for individuals—and among the loosest campaign finance laws, which allowed Mayor Bloomberg to donate $500,000 to the state Republican party, a form of soft money that the federal government banned in 2002.

The question today is: do we fault Governor Paterson for breaking his predecessor’s pledge. The short answer is no—with a giant but. (In fact Governor Spitzer skirted his own self-imposed limits by seeking bundled contributions.)

I couldn't take issue with the governor for playing by the rules, even if absurdly lax. I hope and have faith that before the end of session the governor will propose and make an energetic effort to enact wide-ranging campaign finance reform starting with lowering the sky-high contribution limits.

A few links to Reform Day coverage:

Even if the governor’s absence caused a bit of a stir, we have hope he’ll embrace the reform agenda.

Attorney Andrew General Cuomo pledged support for an independent Ethics Commission, an independent redistricting commission and gave a shout out to the Brennan Center’s rules report. And the attorney general has rejected 1,000 requests for member item grants so far this year.

Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith declared: “Joe Bruno, your time has come. Reform is on the way!”

When does a public school naming smell not as sweet as —but more sour than— a rose?

That’s the issue that Daily News Albany Bureau Chief Joe Mahoney uncovers today in his reporting that a Queens public school will be named for a sitting 19-term state senator. Turns out that Frank Padavan, the soon-to-be namesake of Bellrose’s Glen Oaks campus, is being challenged by a City Councilman James Genaro in what may be one of many competiteve races in the state Senate.

While the value isn’t on the order of the $20 million a year Citibank will reportedly pay the Mets for naming rights to the new stadium Citi Field, the naming of a public school may amount to a form of advertising. It’s no matter if the senator deserves such a honor, which he claims he does, since he was influential in creating the campus in the first place.

There is a legitimate purpose to naming buildings and monuments to honor public figures (John F. Kennedy School, anybody? The late president’s name adorns the façade of my public elementary school on Long Island.) However, it’s a bad idea, at the very least, to do so during a campaign. And it raises the question of an in-kind contribution and/or using public property to promote a reelection campaign.

This name change smells more like skunk cabbage than roses.

When does a public school naming smell not as sweet as —but more sour than— a rose?

That’s the issue that Daily News Albany Bureau Chief Joe Mahoney uncovers today in his reporting that a Queens public school will be named for a sitting 19-term state senator. Turns out that Frank Padavan, the soon-to-be namesake of Bellrose’s Glen Oaks campus, is being challenged by a City Councilman James Genaro in what may be one of many competiteve races in the state Senate.

While the value isn’t on the order of the $20 million a year Citibank will reportedly pay the Mets for naming rights to the new stadium Citi Field, the naming of a public school may amount to a form of advertising. It’s no matter if the senator deserves such a honor, which he claims he does, since he was influential in creating the campus in the first place.

There is a legitimate purpose to naming buildings and monuments to honor public figures (John F. Kennedy School, anybody? The late president’s name adorns the façade of my public elementary school on Long Island.) However, it’s a bad idea, at the very least, to do so during a campaign. And it raises the question of an in-kind contribution and/or using public property to promote a reelection campaign.

This name change smells more like skunk cabbage than roses.

It's exciting to see all the reform-minded press this weekend as we prepare to head to Albany tomorrow for Reform Day. (You can still register and join us in telling our leaders that Enough is Enough!)

The New York Times exposes (in case you didn't already know) the unfair distribution of staff and resources in the Legislature.

The Democrat & Chronicle reports on efforts to tighten ethics enforcement in the wake of recent scandals.

And the Observer-Dispatch and the Press & Sun-Bulletin advocate reform across the board, touching on ethics, rules reform, redistricting, and campaign finance reform.

Let's head to Albany and push for the responsive, deliberative, accessible, accountable, and efficient government New Yorkers deserve!

In today's Observer, journalist Azi Paybarah flashes some good government virtual ink in a well-reported post about the schedule--or lack thereof--of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Apparently, the AG, who has received praise for his work on transparency and opening government, doesn't keep a schedule. The explanation was that the office is protecting the identities of "whistleblowers, witnesses and complainants." It should be noted that the attorney general, like his predecessor, has been aggressively taking on mortgage giants and student loan companies, and recently began a well-advised public integrity investigation.

No public official should refuse to keep a schedule. If there are sensitive meetings of the kind described by the AG's office, then we wouldn't quibble with a redaction here or there. We're pleased that the AG released a reconstructed schedule, though it's only five pages long and covers 13 months.

We hope that going forward--and backward--the AG will continue to record his comings and goings.

In other news, the New York Times points out today that a number of City Council members have relatives on the payroll of their campaign, which is cause to raise an eyebrow, as our good government colleagues point out.

In some cases, probably rarely so, such arrangements are worthwhile. While in his 20's Attorney General Cuomo earned praise as campaign manager for his father's winning gubernatorial bid in 1982. It's unclear how much he was paid, although the following year the current AG worked as a gubernatorial aide earning a salary of $1.

(Full disclosure: I worked in Albany for the attorney general's father in the final years of Governor Cuomo's administration.)

In response to the recent spate of construction-related deaths and accidents in the city, this morning the Assembly held a joint hearing of the Codes, Cities and Housing committees at 250 Broadway. As the notice of public hearing points out, there were nine recent construction deaths (and additional injuries). Today only eight Assembly members out of more than 50 from the combined committee membership actually showed up.

This is no doubt an important issue and the members present deserve praise for their oversight and for proposing several bills to further regulate construction and enforce building codes. The acting head of the city Department of Buildings testified, as did a number of city elected officials and advocates.

However, as we know from New York State Legislative Process, the original Albany report released by the Brennan Center in 2004, hearings on bills are a rarity. According to the report, in the Assembly from 1997 to 2001, out of 202 pieces of major legislation that were ultimately passed where there exists complete information, only one was the subject of a committee hearing—.05%. Members respond that they do hold hearings on issues (which, unlike today, aren't usually about specific legislation.)

Committee attendance for meetings or hearings is virtually unknown because, even if recorded, it’s not readily accessible to the public. This is part of a larger problem of a general lack of transparency and accountability in the state legislature. As the process exists today, constituents are left in the dark about the working habits—or lack thereof—of their representatives. Like you and I were subject to in school, attendance should be taken and should be published on the web immediately.

Attending today’s hearing were Jim Brennan and Joe Lentol, chairs of Cities and Codes respectively, and a mix of representatives who represent areas were the accidents occurred and other interested parties: Jonathon Bing, Deborah Glick, Micah Kellner, Linda Rosenthal, Mark Weprin and Rory Lancman. As of the start of testimony, absent from the hearing was the Housing committee chair, and only two of the 27 members of his committee were present.

It’s unreasonable to insist that every member, even a majority of the members, attend today’s meeting. Members may have reasonable conflicts or great distances to travel, especially from upstate when the meeting is downstate. However, it’s uninspiring that about 15% of the total membership of the three committees were present especially considering the importance and topicality of the issue.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the world's largest retailer, has transformed its once-tiny political action committee into one of the nation's biggest corporate PACs by promising salaried managers and other executives that it will make corresponding donations in their names, on a two-to-one basis, into a company-controlled charity.

The unusual sweetener, unveiled at company meetings in 2001, has clearly fueled the dramatic growth of Wal-Mart's "Responsible Government" PAC. That year, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Wal-Mart's PAC counted more than 380 contributors of $200 or more. In 2002, with the incentive in place, the number of $200+ contributors to Wal-Mart's PAC zoomed to more than 1,040, and by 2004 it was up to more than 1,240.

The Center for Public Integrity has unearthed a series of videotapes (see box, right) that show Wal-Mart executives making pitches for the "double your money" PAC program, as it was billed internally, at company events in 2001 and 2004. The tapes, drawn from a mammoth archive of Wal-Mart video footage, offer unique insights into how the company induced ever-larger numbers of salaried managers to earmark a part of each of their paychecks for the PAC. (By Bill Hogan)

Alaska Republican Don Young, currently under fire for possibly illegal earmarking for a project near Naples, Florida, was one of Congress's most frequent fliers, racking up more than $20,000 in special-interest sponsored travel to the Sunshine State over a five-and-a-half-year period. (By Caitlin Ginley)

Reform Day New York of Action 2008 is only 12 days away on Tuesday, April 29.

Join us and similar-minded friends in Albany as we meet with legislators to discuss much-needed state reforms on: rules, ethics, campaign finance and redistricting.

Transportation is leaving throughout the state. Go here to download bus information and here to register for Reform Day.

Hope to see you in Albany on April 29.

In the wake of the failure of congestion pricing to go to the Assembly floor for debate or receive a vote (at least a public one), several Democratic legislators are singing a similar-sounding tune—the bad news is really good news.

In defense of the non-vote they point out that the practice of mulling things over in party conference has yielded many progressive victories by blocking consideration and (they claim) likely passage of a new capitol punishment law or of choice issues like parental notification and consent

Without commenting on those specific issues, the problem with this explanation is that it’s a tacit admission that the Assembly speaker retains top-to-bottom control over the body.

In the wake of the failure of congestion pricing to go to the Assembly floor for debate or receive a vote (at least a public one), several Democratic legislators are singing a similar-sounding tune—the bad news is really good news.

In defense of the non-vote they point out that the practice of mulling things over in party conference has yielded many progressive victories by blocking consideration and (they claim) likely passage of a new capitol punishment law or choice issues like parental notification and consent

Without commenting on those specific issues, the problem with this explanation is that it’s a tacit admission that the Assembly speaker retains top-to-bottom control over the body.

Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton has studiously avoided discussing her five-and-a-half-year tenure as a director of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer. (By Bill Hogan and Alan Green)

Sometimes a mistake can illuminate more about a speaker's mindset than a flawless statement.

In yesterday's Politicker piece by Azi Paybarah, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky dismissed criticism of the Assembly's process for rejecting congestion pricing, arguing that, "[i]n this case, the issue was so important that the conference substituted for a committee meeting. It was a committee of the whole, as it were."

Students of government will pick up on the problem right away--a traditional "committee of the whole" functions as a forum for debate for the whole legislative body. By excluding minority members and the public from the conversation, the Assembly's treatment of congestion pricing was almost exactly the opposite of a committee of the whole. Since when is it a good idea to make the most important debates the most secret?

We don't mean to pick on one misstatement by one member of the Assembly. Many of Assemblyman Brodsky's colleagues share his apparent belief that the Democrats' supermajority status in the body means they can, for all intents and purposes, pretend the Republicans (and the general public, for that matter) don't exist. The minority is denied equal staff and resources, has almost no power in committees, and is left out of the "floor debate" that really matters--Democratic conference meetings.

It's just plain wrong to deny proper representation to the 5.5 million New Yorkers who live in Republican districts. We hope the congestion pricing crash-and-burn reminds voters of a problem we've been pushing to solve for years: the operating rules of the Assembly (and Senate) must be changed to foster robust, public debate among ALL legislators, not just those with the ear of the leadership.