Proposal for a New State Ethics Commission in New York

With the start of the 2019 legislative session, some New York lawmakers are setting their sights on overhauling the state’s current anti-corruption and ethics structure. Since 2000, 30 New York lawmakers have left state office facing criminal or ethical allegations and many more public employees have faced allegations of criminal or unethical conduct and termination of their employment. Leading the effort to overhaul the current system is Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan, who recently announced her plan to introduce a constitutional amendment that would create a new independent ethics commission to investigate wrongdoing by public officials. The Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity agrees with this effort and has signed on in support of this legislation