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For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 15th, 2005
Contact: Jordan Isenstadt (c) 516.991.3842 (w) 212.490.9535
(f) 212.490.2151
***PRESS RELEASE***
Legislators Sue “Three
Men” Over Dysfunctional Practices
Albany, New York
– New
York State Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan), Assemblyman Tom Kirwan
(R-Newburgh), and the Urban Justice Center announced today that they have
sued Governor George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Assembly
Speaker Sheldon Silver, the Senate, and the Assembly, challenging various
rules and practices that contribute to the Legislature’s dysfunction.
Krueger, Kirwan, and the Urban Justice Center filed their lawsuit today in
New York Supreme Court in Manhattan. The plaintiffs are represented by
the Urban Justice Center and its Director Douglas Lasdon and pro bono by
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and its partner and former Counsel
to Governor Mario M. Cuomo, Evan A. Davis.
The plaintiffs and their counsel held a press conference at the Capitol on
November 29, 2004, and announced that they intended to sue the “Three Men” in
2005 unless each house of the Legislature passed new rules changing how
business is done in Albany. Because the new rules adopted by the
Legislature in January 2005 fail to correct nearly all of the practices
identified as unconstitutional in the draft complaint circulated on November
29th, the plaintiffs decided to commence their lawsuit today.
The complaint incorporates the recent report of the Brennan Center for
Justice at New York University School of Law, entitled The New York State
Legislative Process: An Evaluation and Blueprint for Reform. In particular,
the complaint identifies numerous rules and practices of the Legislature and
Governor that illegally discriminate against legislators belonging to the
minority party of each house in violation of the United States Constitution,
the New York State Constitution, and the laws of New York.
“I had hoped that my colleagues would recognize the need to respond to the
public outcry over the way we do business in Albany. Unfortunately that
has not been the case, and while there have been some minimal reforms,
proposals that would fundamentally challenge the antidemocratic procedures of
the State Legislature have been blocked. I therefore reluctantly turn
to the courts and ask for their assistance in ensuring that all New Yorkers
receive the equal protection and representation they are entitled to under
the State Constitution,” said State Senator Liz Krueger.
“After both leaders presented their ideas of reform, which ranged from
cosmetic to meaningless, we are now going ahead with a lawsuit to wrest power
from the legislative leaders who would never willingly relinquish it on their
own,” said Assemblyman Tom Kirwan.
Doug Lasdon, Director of the Urban Justice Center and co-counsel to the
plaintiffs, said: “Government decisions made behind closed doors favor
powerful interests. For the rest of us, more democracy is better.”
Evan A. Davis, co-counsel to the plaintiffs, said: “The rules changes
adopted by the two Houses in January do not free minority members in each
House from unreasonable and illegal discrimination. To protect the
interests of their constituents and to seek the aid of the Judiciary, this
lawsuit is necessary.”
Among the practices challenged in the complaint are the following:
• Unequal funding of member support: Minority party legislators
receive less funding than members of the majority party with equal
responsibility for constituent communication and other necessary expenses.
• Unequal member items: Minority party members also receive less
funding for “member items,” which are funds for legislator-initiated projects
in their districts made available in violation of the constitutional
appropriation requirement.
• Placing insurmountable obstacles to discharge motions:
Minority party legislators are effectively prevented from bringing bills to a
vote before the full house because majority leaders control when and whether
bills are reported out of committee, even when they have a reasonable
prospect of success.
• Secret debates and votes: Members of the majority party meet
in secret conferences to debate and vote upon pending legislation.
• Abuse of messages of necessity: Although the Governor
frequently invokes messages of necessity to pass legislation, thereby
avoiding the State Constitution’s requirement that all bills be on the desks
of all legislators at least three days before the vote, he does not
personally sign the messages of necessity or certify facts requiring an
immediate vote as required by the Constitution.
• Leadership control over member pay: The leaders of each house
of the Legislature control whether members receive additional compensation,
commonly known as “Lulus,” and they punish members who fail to follow their
direction by reducing or eliminating altogether these stipends; this makes it
nearly impossible for a member of the minority party to solicit the support
of members of the majority party.
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