Today's New York Post lambastes Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver -- one of the most powerful figures in New York State politics -- for his law firm's making money off lawsuits against gas-drilling companies in other states, while leading the charge against allowing hydrofracking for natural gas in New York State.
"You have the speaker highlighting the alleged danger of hydrofracturing at the same time the law firm that's paying him is out looking for clients interested in suing over the issue," said a prominent Democrat who has frequent contact with Silver.
"It's further proof that we need a genuine ethics law in New York," the Democrat said.
Silver has for years refused to detail exactly what he makes and what he does for the firm, even as it plays a key role in the state Trial Lawyers Association, one of Albany's most influential lobbying groups.
The state is indeed in dire need of ethics reform, and the prospect of Silver playing both powerful legislator and ambulance-chaser on this issue is disturbing. But there seems to be a teeny logical flaw in the Post's reasoning: If Silver wanted to make sure his firm could rake in bags of cash from personal-injury lawsuits against gas drillers, surely he'd be for more gas drilling, not against it.
On the topic of ethics reform in New York State government: Cuomo made much of it in his State of the State address earlier this month, and hopes to succeed where his ethically-challenged predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, failed. From North Country Public Radio:
Cuomo also wants to revamp the state’s patchwork system of ethics monitoring to create an independent entity to police ethics for all branches of government.
Cuomo’s predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, came into office just four years ago seeking an overhaul of state ethics laws. Spitzer eventually agreed to a weaker version of his proposal, and permitted the legislature to keep its own system of ethics oversight, a move he was criticized for at the time. The resulting ethics agency, the Commission on Public Integrity, has been controversial at times. It was the subject of a scathing report by the State Inspector General, which accused the panel of passing information to Spitzer regarding the co-called Troopergate scandal.
Cuomo seems well aware that past efforts at reform have not measured up. He promised he would not agree to a bill that was “watered down or half baked”.
The new governor also wants state lawmakers to more fully disclose their outside income, so the public can know about potential conflicts of interest.
