One of Cuomo’s three main legislative goals appears to now have a clear pathway to getting achieved. He and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver have come up with the Clean Up Albany Act of 2011, which will establish a Joint Commission on Public Ethics. The body will be endowed with “robust enforcement powers” and will serve as a watchdog to the state legislature, lobbyists, and the governor. The act will also require elected officials to disclose all outside income and the names of clients or customers. It will be mandatory to disclose whether such clients or customers have business before the state. (Yes, that’s not a thing that’s required now.)
Now Cuomo’s just got to get a property-tax cap approved and gay marriage legalized, and he’ll be done! Simple enough, right?
