PRESS RELEASE: Yonkers State Senator Latimer Blasts Senate Republican Leadership for Ethics Failure in 2018 Budget

Yet Again More Indictments are Met with More Silence”, Latimer Says

ALBANY, NY — March 28, 2017 — Following the indictments this week of a recently retired Western New York Senator as well as the man who replaced him in the State Senate, State Senator George Latimer (D-Westchester) slammed the Senate Republican Leadership for its failure to include any real ethics reform in its proposed 2018 Budget Resolution.

“In the last year and a half, the two top Republican Senators have been indicted and convicted, and last week, a former senator and his successor were both indicted. The certainty we have in Albany is that every year a budget is going to pass. If we really want to do ethics reform, it should be made part of the budget. Yet again more indictments are met with more silence,” Senator Latimer said today.

Latimer specifically pointed to three bills he co-sponsors that he believes should be included in this year’s budget. Those bills would change the definition of bribery to focus on the intent of the exchange of money in return for political favors, rather than requiring an in-advance agreement to do so (S.1873- Sen. Avella), limiting state legislators’ outside income to 15% of their annual state salary, as is the rule for Members of Congress (S.25 – Sen. Hoylman) and a bill requiring annual ethics training for all members of the state legislature and the executive branch, and all of their employees (S.919 – Senator Croci).

“Whether they are Republican, Democratic or IDC bills, they are met with the same response by Senate Leadership… Silence. Year in and year out, the problems persist, and Albany continues to fail to act. This is unacceptable and with the budget deadline fast approaching, the time to remedy this is right now,” Latimer added.