On paper Gov. Cuomo’s newly named Moreland Act commission has all the tools to clean up the cesspool that is Albany.
Problem is, it’s been tried before — by an earlier Gov. Cuomo. Back in 1987, the current governor’s father appointed a similar commission with a similar mission: to propose genuine anti-corruption reforms. It did, but nearly all died in the Legislature.
This new commission is larger than its 1987 predecessor and includes a significant number of active prosecutors. It has been empowered to investigate specific wrongdoing by legislators. And it comes amid a growing public outcry over the parade of corrupt Albany pols headed off to prison.
Much as we love to see bad guys go to the pokey, we are mindful of the words of US Attorney Preet Bharara, who’s put many of our pols there. Albany’s corruption, he says, “is more than a prosecutor’s problem.” Transgressions, he notes, “seem to be tolerated, and nothing ever seems to change.” Hardly surprising when legislators divvy up the taxpayers’ money so that everyone profits except the taxpayers.
So if this commission is to succeed, it will have to do more than find cases to prosecute. It will have to help change the system.
An excellent start would be the package of reforms contained in the Public Officers Accountability Act. Introduced in May by the Assembly’s GOP minority, it is now sidelined in a Democratic-controlled committee. Among its proposals:
* Ban those convicted of felonies related to official duties from future government employment, lobbying and bidding.
* Impose term limits for legislative leaders and committee chairs.
* Itemize all appropriations.
* Limit campaign funds to campaign activities.
* Forbid using campaign funds to pay criminal defense lawyers and ban convicted felons from pocketing their campaign accounts.
Most of these are so common-sense you wonder why they aren’t already law. Which helps explain why this latest Moreland commission has such an uphill climb.