Assemblyman David DiPietro (R,C-East Aurora) is renewing his calls for increased ethics reform in a month when three legislative leaders will be sentenced for abusing their offices.

“This week we witnessed the sentencing of Sheldon Silver and later this month we’ll see the sentencings of Dean Skelos and John Sampson,” DiPietro said. “We need to change course and we need to do it today. The first step toward restoring trust in government is to protect the taxpayer by ensuring those who violate the public trust never see a dime of their pensions. The second thing we must do is enact term limits for all those in leadership positions in the Legislature. Eight years is more than enough time to hold a post, and we cannot allow the concentration of power to be with one individual for too long. Finally, the best way to curtail corruption is to get government less involved in our day-to-day affairs. The less we allow government to do and get its tentacles into, and the fewer areas it has influence over, the less it has to corrupt.”

“We’ve allowed the Albany Leviathan to assume too much control over our lives,” DiPietro continued. “We need to shrink government, limit its power, collect less in taxes, and punish those who abuse the public trust. Albany needs to have the collective will to do this.”

DiPietro sponsors Assembly Bill 4659, which strips the taxpayer-financed pensions of elected officials convicted of a felony abuse of office. He is also a sponsor of Assembly Bill 7147, which establishes term limits for legislative leaders and a host of other good government reforms.