On Wednesday, Common Cause/New York, along with our coalition partners Citizens Union, the League of Women Voters of New York and NYPIRG issued a Reform Report Card, pointing out that two years after extensive promises of reform in Albany, little has been accomplished.

Final grade, as of today: F. Aware of our criticism, and having been urged on several occasions by CC/NY and its coalition partners to introduce a strong campaign finance bill, Governor Paterson finally got off the dime and announced the details of a bill he plans to introduce - as we were holding our press conference. At least we know we had some effect! You can watch Albany Channel 10's report about the press conference and the Governor's actions.

Here in New York, we've been roiled over the last month and a half by repeated revelations of huge amounts of public money paid out at the sole discretion of an individual elected official. Over $350 million in the New York City budget is controlled by individual City Council members, state legislators' member control items totaling almost $140 million, and over $1 billion in the state budget is controlled by the Governor and legislative leaders for discretionary "capital projects."

Elected officials like to call these amounts "discretionary funds."  Here at Common Cause/New York, like other members of the public and the press, we call them what they are: slush funds. Why do we even have these slush funds at all?

On Tuesday, April 29, almost 200 Common Cause activists and allies gathered in New York's capital for "take your ethics to work day" in order to demand more of our state government. Recent scandal (after scandal after scandal) has only reinforced the urgent need for changes to the way Albany does business.

A paper in Binghamton underscored this last week when it wrote: "If ever there was a state government in need of [reform] it's ours, which has correctly been labeled the most dysfunctional in the land. Albany is to government what Britney Spears is to motherhood." Legislators, Blair Horner of NYPIRG pointed out, "have to do something to regain the trust of the public before facing them in November."

We gathered for Reform Day 2008 to offer legislators a way to regain that trust. We provided principles of a reform agenda, endorsed by dozens of organizations throughout the state, around which they could craft meaningful reforms. The broad issues for reform include changes to the way campaigns are financed, the way the legislature operates, how legislators are held accountable to the public, and termination of the partisan gerrymandering in New York State.

Click "Read More" for more on Reform Day 2008.

Common Cause/NY is saddened by the situation which led to Governor Spitzer's resignation today. Our thoughts are with the Spitzer family and we hope that they will weather this storm.

At the same time, we look forward to working with Lt. Governor David Paterson as he assumes the responsibilities of the governorship of our great state. We are genuinely impressed with the bi-partisan reputation that precedes Mr. Paterson's entry to the Governor's Mansion and know firsthand that he is a strong supporter of meaningful reform.

On Monday, New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer held a news conference at New York City Hall to address newspaper reports that he had been directly involved in a prostitution ring. While Common Cause adheres to the core American belief that individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty, Governor Spitzer's brief statement did nothing to quell that suspicion.

Common Cause/NY is stunned and saddened by law enforcement allegations that Gov. Spitzer was involved in such activities. While news reports have raised concerns about the origins of the investigation, the allegations remain deeply troubling and problematic because Mr. Spitzer ran for governor of New York as an ethical reformer, and has spent his legal and political career fighting corruption. It is disappointing to see that an official with such promise, in whom so many New Yorkers had placed great hope, would allow himself to become embroiled in such a scandal.

Common Cause/NY believes an elected official's most important job is to uphold the public trust. And sadly, that appears now to be broken. As this saga unfolds, Common Cause/NY remains committed to working with New York's leaders to bring about the reforms that New Yorkers so clearly want. We invite you to join us in the ongoing fight for open and accountable state government.