Editorial by Michael P. Kearns – New York State Assembly – 142nd District
“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Lord Acton’s age old adage has troubling resonance today in the New York Assembly. The present crisis of leadership in Albany affords the people of New York State an opportunity for meaningful reform. It’s no secret that the internal rules of the Assembly concentrate power in the Speaker’s hands. The temptation to self-deal with such immense power was too great for Mr. Silver and its existence presents the government with the potential for more harm by a similarly empowered individual in the future.
Sheldon Silver’s departure from his leadership post is a political crisis of historic proportions. However, as President John F. Kennedy said, “When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.” While we are faced with the danger of this happening again we also must recognize there is an opportunity to avoid this potential danger by reforming the antiquated rules which govern the Assembly.
In New York, under the current rules if a Committee Chair disagrees with the Speaker the Chair can find him or herself stripped of their committee and the accompanying pay increase or have staff stripped by the Speaker. The Speaker controls what is researched in Committee and what comes out of Committee for a vote on the floor of the Assembly. The Speaker can do this in an arbitrary and capricious manner or because of that Chairman’s lack of loyalty.
Through concentrated power, Mr. Silver was able to scare and intimidate Democratic Assembly members into silence. The silence, instead of calling for him to step down or be voted out for choosing to cover-up the actions of a sexual predator, former Assemblyman Vito Lopez, was inexcusable. Further, the grip of a single person’s power after a five count federal indictment should have had the entire body unanimously demanding his immediate resignation. Instead silence followed for days by too many members still in fear of Mr. Silver’s power. As of the writing of this editorial a potential extortionist, who monetized the office and power bestowed on him in trust by the people of New York, is still in control of when he leaves. If the same charges happened to an ordinary rank and file worker would they be allowed to hang onto their position or would they be let go immediately? The perception of power and the fear is still all too real.
The rules still concentrate too much power in a single person’s hands and makes the people’s business subject to the capriciousness of a single person. If a new Speaker were elected today without rules changes, disobeying a new Speaker or dissenting with that person is perilous. The dissenting new Assembly-member’s views, positions and bills, however responsive to the needs of the people or constituents, will die in committee. The bills will never make the floor of the Assembly for a vote.
The hallmarks of a robust legislative body are: accessibility, accountability, deliberativeness and representativeness – all of which are missing in the Assembly because of archaic rules resting the power in a single person’s hands. When one person controls so much power, the Assembly is tragically imbalanced. This must change. We cannot remove one Speaker accused of extortion and fraud only to have the temptation to commit similar acts by the next person linger on. It is the potential for the same problems with a different face, either male or female, which we must guard against – new rules are the solution in preventing future malfeasance.