Senate Minority Rules

It's not often that legislators speak out on the need for rules reform, and less so when a leader of a house does. But that's what Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith did earlier this week in the Albany Times-Union:

"Legislative rules bottle up good ideas instead of setting them free. Bad ideas favored by special interests rush forward with little review or consideration, and good ideas are killed in committee, delayed, set aside or worse. In our state Senate, one person -- the majority leader -- can stop any piece of legislation from being considered, debated and voted on, regardless of the impact on millions of New Yorkers in need of government action. The current system of ethics and oversight has resulted in less public trust in government at a time when we need to demonstrate competence and effectiveness in order to deliver meaningful results for New Yorkers. All lawmakers and government officials must recognize and respect bright-line rules for fairness and accountability in the use of government resources, while avoiding clear conflicts of interest in their private and family lives."

True he's in the minority, which is actually only a single seat.

The full op-ed is here.