“I find it insulting that gestures toward ethics reform in New York are just that, empty gestures. When a newly-created office in the Assembly is crafted to oversee Ethics and Compliance, you’d expect it to be central to any conversation regarding ethics reform in the state, but not in Gov. Cuomo’s New York, where people are hired just for a PR stunt and to try to gain face instead of enacting any serious change.

“Jane Feldman was hired to lead the charge of ethics reform in Albany but after the fanfare of being hired, where was this change? Taxpayers in New York deserve better, and Jane was hired to give them that change. Unfortunately, she was never consulted or included in ethics reform conversations, which to me shows there was never any actual intent or seriousness for reform in the first place.

“True reform requires dedication and my colleagues and I have been working against the trend of corruption and favor trading that is so prevalent in Albany. We have introduced the Public Officers Accountability Act (A5864), which imposes term limits for committee chairs, the speaker and other legislative leaders, and my own bill (A4659), which strips pensions from corrupt politicians. We’re fighting against this trend of entitlement from our elected officials and ignoring taxpayers and what they expect from their government.”