Assemblywoman Galef and Senator Avella Continue to Advocate for More Governmental Ethics Reforms

Assemblywoman Sandy Galef and Senator Tony Avella called for action on their legislation, A.6808/S.6306, to prohibit members of the legislature from providing funds from state grants to business entities or not-for-profits with which they, their family members, or employees are officially or legally involved. The bill would continue the effort to improve laws governing the actions of legislators.

Galef and Avella’s bill amends Public Officers Law to prevent a conflict of interest when distributing state-provided funding, including grants and member items, to non-profits and businesses. We have seen scandals on the state and federal levels in which preferential treatment was shown to entities in which an elected or appointed official, or someone close to them, hold influential positions. This legislation prohibits this kind of favoritism.

“When state funding is distributed by legislators, decisions should be made on the individual merits of the business entity or non-profit, not someone’s personal loyalties or nepotism,” said Assemblywoman Sandy Galef. “It is important that we not allow personal allegiances to influence decisions made on behalf of the public. We, as public servants, have been chosen by our constituents to act in their best interest, making it a breach of trust if decisions are based on personal interest.”

"In recent years, we have unfortunately come to see how pervasive conflicts of interest in state and federal government can be,” said Senator Tony Avella. When allocating funds, we as legislators need to make sure that we are awarding businesses and non-profits whose caliber of work is deserving of a grant, not organizations whose only merit is being managed by our friends and family. This legislation is important to residents of every district who want their elected officials to be doing the people’s work and not simply enriching someone for having the same last name as them."

“Amazingly New York law doesn’t specifically prohibit lawmakers from attempting to steer state monies to entities or programs that benefit themselves or their families,” said NYPIRG Executive Director Blair Horner. “Until we overhaul the state’s vague code of ethics, we can all agree that public officials shouldn’t engage in self-dealing or nepotism when it comes to directing the use of taxpayer dollars.”

Dick Dadey, Executive Director of Citizens Union, said: “The increasing frequency with which charges of impropriety have been levied against our state lawmakers related to their control over state monies must serve as a call to action for New Yorkers. Assembly Bill A6808 is a positive step towards preventing conflicts of interest in the awarding of state funds and ensuring that our state elected officials will always put the public interest first and not steer valuable taxpayer dollars to favored allies.”

Jennifer Wilson, Program and Policy Director, League of Women Voters of NYS, said: “In recent years, there have been several instances of legislators using their positions of power to appropriate state money in a way that would serve their private interests. The improper allocation of funding to organizations and business entities that have direct ties to elected officials is one of the most common forms of corruption in our state. This bill will prevent elected officials from unfairly favoring entities that are directly linked to members of their families. We applaud Assemblywoman Galef and Senator Avella for proposing this common sense legislation and hope to see it pass before the end of session.”