Assemblyman leading the charge to reform public authorities
By SHERRY HALBROOK
NYS Assembly Member Richard Brodsky of Westchester is all too familiar with the issues that prompted PEF to launch its
Go Public campaign calling for enactment of new laws to ensure greater public accountability when the state hands off public services to quasi-public or private entities.
Brodsky introduced legislation to do just that.
In fact, he is the sponsor of Assembly Bill A.O5626, the Public Authority Reform Act — one of the four Accountability Bills highlighted by PEF’s campaign.
As chair of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, Brodsky has been on the front lines of efforts to find out just how these quasi-public bodies conduct the public’s business and spend public funds behind closed doors.
The abuses of public trust and waste of public funds his committee uncovered prompted him to sponsor the Public Authority Reform Act and other legislation, Brodsky said.
“I’m sure you’ve heard about the problems we found at the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority), the NYS Thruway Authority, the Long Island Power Authority and the state Bridge Authority,” he said. “This system is thoroughly out of control.”
What went wrong?
According to Brodsky, there are two basic reasons for creating these quasi-public entities.
“They have a good purpose and a bad purpose,” he said.
The good purpose, he said, is to create a way for the state to borrow money without a public referendum and, therefore, without direct state taxpayer liability.
“The bad purpose is to avoid politically difficult decisions.” Brodsky cited the example of raising bridge tolls. Elected officials would not want to do this directly, so they created a commission that can do it without having to face re-election.
“What’s happened,” he said, “is (these bodies) have been captured under the executive branch (governor’s control), where they have become patronage mills and are used to avoid the legal structures that protect the rights of state workers and others.”
The result, Brodsky said: “Procurement lobbyists go crazy” trying to influence the way these authorities and commissions spend New York’s tax dollars.
How do you fix it?
In response to all of the problems the Assembly committee and other investigators have uncovered, Brodsky said he has sponsored a number of reform bills to try to reassert the public’s control over its assets, programs and services.
PEF has singled out A.05626 — the Public Authority Reform Act — as one of its four top “Accountability” bills that it is campaigning to get enacted in 2005.
This bill would reform quasi-public entities by:
• Establishing a temporary commission to decide which ones should be absorbed into state agencies and which should be eliminated outright;
• Establish an independent state budget office and inspector general to review how they dispose of property, invest and spend;
• End procurement lobbying;
• Require publication of all contracts;
• Curtail the creation of subsidiaries and affiliates; and
• Reinvigorate boards of directors and empower their committees.
The overall goal, Brodsky said, is “to make their decisions, books and policies much more transparent.”
Can it be done?
The problems surfacing at many of the 730 New York quasi-public bodies have become so outrageous, rampant and pervasive, Brodsky said, that “We really need a comprehensive solution.”
Getting it has not been easy.
“We’ve got to get past the rhetoric, hearings, subpoenas and litigation,” he said, to passing and enforcing tough laws that will fundamentally change how the state does business.
How hard can you push?
This is the second year, Brodsky and PEF have tried to pass these reforms.
While A.05626 passed the Assembly this year, it has no direct counterpart in the state Senate.
Brodsky said he has looked for a Republican co-sponsor in the Senate and was encouraged by Sen. Vincent Leibell’s assurance that “he wants to be cooperative.”
Leibell, who chairs the Senate Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, also has introduced a package of reform bills.
The nearest match for A.05626 appears to be S.05106 which is also called the Public Authority Reform Act and has some similar provisions.
PEF Legislative Director Brian Curran describes the Senate bill, which is still in committee, as “less comprehensive than the Brodsky bill and more focused on the internal governance of the commissions and authorities.”
Eventually, it will be up to the Assembly and Senate to negotiate compromise legislation that members of both houses can support.
If they are successful and the resulting bill passes, it will still have to get past the governor before it can become law.
Brodsky and Curran agree: It is far from a “slam, dunk.”
“We just have to keep working it very hard,” Brodsky said.
The
Communicator June 2005
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