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Galef Applauds Governor’s Ethics Efforts but Calls into Question Political Consultant Measure




“Creating a Distance between Those Who Seek to Influence the Law and the People Who Make Them”

ALBANY, NY (June 9, 2016) – New York State Assemblywoman Sandy Galef (95th Assembly District) applauded Governor Andrew Cuomo for renewing his commitment to meaningful ethics reform during his address at Fordham Law School yesterday.  She announced that she will support the Governor’s newest proposals to limit outside “dark money” as they closely align with the anti-corruption platform she has been championing since the beginning of this legislative session.

“I am grateful to Governor Cuomo for taking this bold step to fix the rampant problems that we experience in our state in campaign finance and political corruption.  We have heard very little about ethics reform this session,” Galef said. “We know that the public’s appetite for a clean and honest government is strong but the Legislature’s efforts to solve these issues have, so far, been minimal.  For the Governor to come out and call for increased action is perhaps the shot in the arm we need.”
In addition to measures targeted at preventing the hijacking of political campaigns by independent expenditure committees, Cuomo briefly mentioned legislation that he introduced as part of his ethics package in this year’s state budget that required political consultants to register as lobbyists -- an issue that Galef, along with Senator Tony Avella (11th Senate District), is also aggressively being promoted in the Legislature through a pair of sponsored bills.

The Galef/Avella measures aim to increase the transparency of relationships between elected officials, government agencies, consulting firms and the clients they represent by creating a complete bifurcation between the two professions of political consultants and lobbyists.  Bill A6585-a/S4690-a would create a conflict-of-interest firewall to ensure that a paid political consultant would not be able to lobby a former client for a current one’s outside interests, preventing any overlap in competing priorities.  San Francisco, which has one of the most stringent ethics rules in the country, has successfully instituted this policy.

Legislation A9180/S5520, known as “The Consulting Act”, would create compulsory rules of registration and disclosure of all consulting firms that have substantial contact with both elected officials and outside clients, similar to what is already required of lobbyists..  The bill relates to all consultants, including political consultants and those who engage in public relations or “strategic communications”.

“Why should we allow someone who quarterbacked a campaign to also call the shots when it comes to making important policy decisions,” concluded Galef. “We need to separate the two professions.  You’re either a consultant or a lobbyist.  You can’t do both.”

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