Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York’s legislative leaders have announced an overhaul of ethics enforcement in state government forced by an unprecedented string of corruption cases.
The latest change, reached Friday, will replace the current Commission on Public Integrity, created in 2007 under then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who later left office in a call girl scandal.
The new agency known as the Joint Commission On Public Ethics would for the first time have the power to police both the executive and legislative branches as well as lobbying. The Legislature, citing the need for separation of powers, would decide any sanctions against lawmakers.
Legislators who are lawyers would also have to disclose information about their clients.
"I have repeatedly said that in order to get this state back on the right track, we must end the dysfunction and corruption that has plagued Albany for far too long and bring integrity back to the halls of our Capitol," Cuomo told the Daily News.
