Kellner Reform Will Bring Assembly Activities Into the Light
April 26, 2010
Too much of the Assembly’s public business is conducted behind closed doors. While many of the Assembly’s documents and records are posted online, there is little information readily available about which lobbyists are fighting to pass or kill which legislation, and about what goes on during the committee meetings that are a crucial part of the legislative process.
Just as I have introduced legislation to require New York State’s agencies to put their public records on the internet, I believe that New Yorkers are entitled to know what is happening in their state legislature. For this reason, I am introducing a rules resolution that will require the Assembly to dramatically improve its transparency by putting records of all its work online.
When a bill is introduced, it is sent to one of the Assembly’s standing committees for review, and before it can be voted on by the full Assembly it must first be approved by the committee. Lobbyists seeking to influence the legislative process will send memos to the committee members, urging them to vote a bill through – or, in many cases, to vote against a bill so that it never makes it out of the committee to a full vote. The public should know who is trying to influence Assembly Members, and what those lobbyists are saying. My resolution will require these lobbyist memoranda to be published on the Assembly’s website.
The resolution will also require the Assembly to show its work on the internet, putting meeting notices, agendas, transcripts, minutes, recordings, and attendance and voting records online for all to see. It will let New Yorkers see and hear who is saying what about each bill, who is pushing to have a bill advanced out of a committee, and who is trying to keep it bottled up. It will open up the Assembly’s legislative process, from beginning to end, for public scrutiny.
Making laws is often compared to making sausages – it is said that it’s better not to see how it happens. But the lawmaking process is critically important to New Yorkers’ everyday lives, and the public has every right to expect that their legislature works in a way that allows citizens to see what is happening and to participate. My resolution will make this kind of transparency standard practice for the Assembly.
Comments
One Response to “Kellner Reform Will Bring Assembly Activities Into the Light”
Got something to say?
- @MicahKellner Hello, I live on #2ndavesubway + need help understanding why ConEd is able 2 jackhammer round the clock. No sleep since Monday
10 hours ago from webRT @MicahKellner: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals striking down #Prop8 same-sex marriage ban in California is a victory for the civil rights of all Americans.
2 days ago from web
[...] Micah Kellner wants state agencies to put their public records [...]