“The speech delivered today by Governor Paterson provides the legislature with strong proposals for ethics reform, which I support and hope members of both parties will support as well. While the governor emphasized how critical the current state financial situation is, it was unfortunate that he was short on details for a fiscal plan which will provide long-term savings and pay down our state debt. Although the address’s tone of urgency is ultimately correct, I only hope that, unlike previous years, this year the Governor has the courage to follow his words with actions and lead this state in a new direction, as this may be our last true chance for recovery and reform for many years.”