NYPIRG Calls for Stronger Local Ethics, Lobbying Laws

NYPIRG released a report earlier today that calls for “sweeping changes in the state’s local government ethics law, administration, enforcement, and improvements to the state’s Open Meetings and Freedom of Information Laws.”

NYPIRG’s report, titled Drilling Down: Local Fracking Decisions Highlight Failures in New York’s Municipal Ethics Laws, looks at “municipal decisions and actions related to fracking” and evaluates “the effectiveness of what state and local law requires with respect to municipal government transparency, public participation and ethical conduct by local officials.”

The report finds that:

  • local ethics laws are inadequate, in that they do not adequately address potential conflicts of interest; include “anemic” penalties, lack a state training, guidance or oversight agency; and often go unenforced;
  • the state’s “local lobbying” laws do not apply to local governments with less than 50,000 residents;
  • the Open Meetings Law (OML) “contains gaps that can be used to deprive the public of timely notice” of meetings and agenda items; and
  • some local governments are unable to comply with the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and the OML.

The report recommends:

  • revising the state’s ethics laws that cover local governments to require strong conflicts of interest provisions, including mandatory transactional disclosures and recusal, when appropriate; an independent training, guidance and enforcement agency; requiring business interests to disclose in a central location the details of land-development agreements; and enabling members of the public to bring a lawsuit to enforce ethics violations and recover attorneys’ fees if they prevail;
  • applying the state’s local lobbying laws to all local governments;
  • improving the Open Meetings Law; and
  • requiring videotaping and archiving of public meetings.

While the report is ostensibly about local government ethics and transparency, it seems to be more about criticizing local lawmakers who support fracking.

Read news coverage from the Politics on the Hudson and Capitol Confidential.