Allow and encourage co-sponsorship of bills by members of both the majority and minority parties;

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Norah Dorsey
5 years ago
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1 Hon. Joseph L. Bruno Temporary President and Majority Leader New York State Senate Room 909 Legislative Office Building Albany, NY Hon. David A. Paterson Minority Leader New York State Senate 907 Legislative Office Building Albany, NY Gentlemen: We write on behalf of a coalition of concerned citizens, business associations, advocacy groups, and other organizations from every region of the State (see below). We have come together because we share a common desire to see our State s Legislature reformed to make the legislative process more effective, more deliberative, more accountable, and more transparent. We write to applaud you for agreeing to work together to reach agreement on a comprehensive set of rules changes to accomplish this goal, and to urge you to include specific changes in your final agreement. The Senate rules should, with sufficient specificity to ensure both clarity and enforceability: Bill Introduction Allow and encourage co-sponsorship of bills by members of both the majority and minority parties; Committees Give each committee chairperson the power to hire and fire the committee s staff, and the rules should detail that this power should include not simply clerks but also counsel and other program-related staff involved in the committee s analysis and development of legislation; Provide adequate funding for professional staff, facilities and equipment to each committee, allocated on a strictly proportional majority-minority split 1 ; 1 We recognize that such agreement will likely require codification and execution in other places beyond the Senate s internal rules. It is critical that committees have the funding to provide for hearings held by

2 Require full public hearings on legislation or agencies if one-fourth of the committee demands such a hearing. (Public fora that do not include transcription and full public notices, as well as a presumption that all committee members will attend such events, do not suffice). The rules should specify that such public hearings must address the proposed bill and its specific provisions, in addition to the general topic or problem to which it is devoted. In any event, all committees with jurisdiction over an administrative agency should be required to hold at least one public hearing per year to hear testimony and gather evidence in order to review the performance of the agency; Require public committee reports on all bills reported to the floor that contain, at a minimum, purposes of the bill, change in previous law, section-by-section analysis, procedural history, committee or subcommittee votes, and any members views of the bill.; End the practice of voting in committees without being physically present, and expressly require attendance at all committee meetings, except that members may be excused upon good cause and the specific reasons therefor shall be recorded and maintained as a public record; Enable committee members to obtain a vote on their bills from the chairperson by within sixty days of such request or, in any event, no later than the end of the calendar year or the end of the session, whichever is earlier; Record and place transcripts of all committee meetings and hearings on the chamber s website to allow the public to hold their representatives accountable; Require that the Rules Committees comply with all present requirements on standing committees in all respects. Discharge Motions/Consideration by the Full Senate Require that all bills reported favorably out of committee must be considered and voted upon by the full chamber within sixty days, or before the end of the session, whichever is earlier; Relax restrictions on timing and number of discharge motions: (a) Motions to discharge a bill should be allowed at any time after 20 days has passed since the bill was referred to the committee in question and until five days before the end of the legislative session; (b) Debate on a motion to discharge should not be limited in duration, except that such debate may be closed by a majority vote of the elected members of the chamber; (c) There should be no limit on the number of motions to discharge within a legislative session; both majority and minority members to produce greater deliberation and allow greater public input into the legislative process.

3 Require that the votes of individual Senators on discharge motions be recorded and made publicly available (see also empty seat voting below). Voting Procedures Require that two-thirds of the elected members of a chamber vote to use a message of necessity before one can be used, in order to prevent legislators from voting on bills without fully considering them; End the practice of empty-seat voting in its entirety: A vote should not be recorded for any member who is not physically present in the chamber at the time of the vote and personally indicates whether s/he wishes to vote aye or nay. Such votes shall be recorded either by slow roll call vote, or by electronic means triggered by the member s individual selection. Members attendance and personally indicated vote shall be recorded as a public record. 2 Conference Committees Require that conference committees be convened upon the request of the bills sponsors in each chamber to resolve differences between the Assembly and Senate 3 : When bills addressing the same subject have been passed by both chambers, a conference committee should be convened automatically upon the request of the prime sponsor from each chamber or the Speaker and Majority Leader. Such conference committee shall include members from each chamber appointed by the Speaker and Majority Leader who shall represent in number the majority and minority in each chamber in proportional fashion. Such committee shall convene for a mark up session within a time certain after such a request to reconcile the differences in the two chambers bills before final passage. These sessions shall be open to the public and shall be transcribed; and Member Funding Provide equal funding for the operating costs and staff of each member s office, regardless of the member s party affiliation or seniority. 4 In addition, no individual member s funding allocation shall be reduced, unless allocations are reduced for all members simultaneously. 2 We recognize that significant technological changes must be made to produce this result. 3 This change would, of course, require the Assembly s agreement to amend its rules accordingly. Senate action on this point would be invaluable, however, in encouraging the Assembly to do so. 4 This change would presumably require documentation beyond the Senate s rules, but should also be codified in those rules.

4 Television Coverage Commit to implementation of gavel-to-gavel cable television coverage of Senate proceedings. The Assembly proposed to renew its efforts to implement such coverage, and a firm commitment from both chambers is needed to make this a reality. Together, these changes would significantly improve the functioning of the Senate, and better allow voters to hold their representatives accountable. You have an historic opportunity to establish a legacy of dramatic and bipartisan legislative reform. We sincerely hope that you will seize this opportunity to improve the Senate for all New Yorkers. Sincerely, Amherst Chamber of Commerce Brennan Center for Justice Buffalo Niagara Partnership Business and Professional Women/NY State The Business Council of Westchester Camillus Chamber of Commerce Center for an Urban Future Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) Center for Governmental Research (CGR) Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce The Children s Aid Society Citizen Action of New York Citizens Budget Commission The Citizens of New York for Legislative Reform Citizens Union of the City of New York City Project Common Cause/NY Community Service Society of New York Constitution Party of New York Democracy for New York City Democracy for the Mohawk-Hudson Region Democracy Matters Dēmos: A Network for Ideas and Action Digital Rochester Drug Policy Alliance Edmund J. McMahon, Jr., Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Environmental Advocates of New York Exodus Transitional Community, Inc. Finger Lakes Democracy For America

5 Fifth Avenue Committee Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce Greater Upstate Law Project, Inc. Headquarters Staff Union HELP USA Human Services Council of New York City Hunger Action Network of New York State Hudson Riverkeeper The Interfaith Alliance of Rochester Interfaith Impact of New York State Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ) League of Women Voters of Bronxville League of Women Voters of Buffalo/Niagara League of Women Voters of New York City League of Women Voters of New York State League of Women Voters of Utica-Rome League of Women Voters of Westchester Long Island Alliance for Retired Americans Make the Road By Walking Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) Metropolitan Council Housing and Redevelopment Authority (Metro HRA) Monroe County Independence Party The National Council of Jewish Women - New York Section National Federation of Independent Business New York National Nonpartisan Voter Education Campaign Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) New Democratic Majority (NDM) New Leadership Democratic Club New York ACORN New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) New York Lawyers for the Public Interest The New York League of Conservation Voters New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) New York State Business & Professional Women s Club, Inc. New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault New York State Tenants & Neighbors Coalition New York Statewide Senior Action Council, Inc. Niagara USA Chamber Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, Inc. Onondaga Citizens League Onondaga County Conservative Party Otsego Chamber of Commerce Printing and Imaging Association of New York State, Inc. Professional Staff Congress Richmond Hill Quality of Life Commission

6 Rochester Downtown Development Corporation (RDDC) Rome Area Chamber of Commerce Safe Horizon Save New York, Inc. Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy Urban Justice Center Welfare Rights Initiative (WRI) Westchester Business Council Women s City Club of New York (WCC)

Supporting Legislative Rules Reform

Report by the Committee on State Affairs of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York Supporting Legislative Rules Reform The Fundamentals May 2007 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For the last century the New