The bad news, of course, is that like a procastinating college student who crams to learn an entire semester's worth of information in the week before the exam, the legislative session ends Thursday (though rumours are now circulating in the press that they may stay until Friday) and lawmakers have left the bulk of the people's business to be done at the last minute.  

That includes ethics reforms, and while in any other state the thought that something so important might happen so late in the game would sound silly, NYS government has never been one to perform in the way you might expect it to.

We're encouraging our members and activists in target districts to email their Senators (all of them considered swing or critical votes) to ask them to take action on ethics before the end of session.  You can check out our action and take it yourself by visiting:

www.commoncause.org/SenateMustAct

The legislation put forward by the Assembly, A11900, contains important new ethics reforms.  It tightens the state's ban on gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers, restricts honoraria, helps slow the "revolving door" by preventing legislative employees from leaving their jobs and immediately returning to lobby their old colleagues, establishes ethics trainings for public officials and lobbyists and requires the State Board of Elections to review and hopefully bolster the current restriction on the "personal use" of campaign contributions.

An Assembly bill is a victory, but it will take action from the Senate and Governor in order to win.  If scandal upon scandal that's sent lawmakers of both parties to jail in the past few years can't shame them into getting the job done, New Yorkers will have to ask themselves if their lawmakers have any shame at all.