Kolb, Silver and ethics reform

I see Jim Tedisco's pontifications today about the state of the state include a call for "ethics and election law reform where outside income and any relationships with the state are totally transparent." If that means forcing elected officials to disclose how much income they are getting from where, OK. But Tedisco's successor as Assembly minority leader, Brian Kolb, this year co-sponsored Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's ethics bill, which would continue to let the lawyers who control the state Legislature conceal the identity of their clients and provide for less than full disclosure of their incomes.

The bill, which passed both houses, did mark an advance over the current black hole of ethics non-disclosure, but was rightly vetoed as inadequate by Gov. David Paterson. I heard Kolb on Alan Chartock's WAMC radio about a month ago feebly defending the Silver bill, and Fred Dicker on his Talk 1300 show routinely mocks the minority leader as being in the speaker's pocket. Caving on ethics reform does seem a particularly perverse piece of bipartisan collusion.

Comments

[Matthew]

If the legislature was serious about ethics reform (they're not) or closing the budget deficit, they can start by closing the loophole that allows those grandfathered in that allow them to collect on their retirement while also drawing an active salary.

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_429ffc3a-1392-11e0-a5b6-001cc4c03286.html

http://poststar.com/article_35c0119e-1392-11e0-8de2-001cc4c03286.html

If any of us Joe Civilians did that, we'd have to not only pick one or the other. But make restitution and lose our pensions.