On November 22, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, added a couple of charges to those already lodged against Joe Percoco and several others involved in huge development projects. Percoco, who was formerly a top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and whom Cuomo once referred to as “my father’s third son,” is accused of taking over $300,000 in bribes for helping Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) obtain the necessary permitting to move forward with the 650-megawatt power plant that is under construction in Orange County. As part of the deal, Percoco’s wife allegedly got a $90,000 a year job that required very little work.

About a week before this news, in the wake of an election that Cuomo said left citizens fearful and mistrusting of their government at the federal level, he said it was also true at other levels. He said, “Our state has suffered a few long years of seemingly endless scandals at all levels: county governments, city governments, legislative leaders in the Senate and Assembly, in the judiciary, the NYPD, and even in the executive.”

His solution to this problem is to address it directly. Announcing a new push to reform ethics in the state, he said, “I will appoint a Chief Procurement Officer for the executive branch. That person will be charged with reviewing all state contracts, with an eye toward eliminating any wrongdoing, conflicts of interest or collusion. And just so there is no confusion, I do mean all contracts. Any contract or agreement that entails the disbursement of state funds will be subject to review.”

He said this could be accomplished without legislative approval. He further said, “I will order my campaign and my party not to accept campaign contributions from companies once a Request for Proposals has been announced [in which a company might offer a proposal], and for six months following the conclusion for the winner. I believe the other state offices and the legislature should do the same and will propose such a law.”

That’s a good start, but other commonsense steps, many of which have been proposed and then ignored in the past, will require the approval of the Senate and the Assembly.

Among the reforms Cuomo proposed is one that would limit state lawmakers to earning outside income no more than 15% above what they earn from their salary as a legislators. Just two weeks ago, the New York State Commission on Legislative, Judicial and Executive Compensation declined to approve a pay raise for state legislators. One of the commissioners, who was appointed by Cuomo, said the decision came at least in part because the legislature has declined to pass meaningful ethics reform.

The base pay for legislators is currently $79,500, though they can earn more through various perks of the job. They haven’t had a raise since 1999, and many say they deserve one. It’s not clear to us that they should earn more than what they are already making, given that the minimum wage for upstate workers will be $9.70 at the end of this year. That translates to slightly more than $20,000 per year. But if the only way to get the legislature to pass serious ethics reform is to bribe lawmakers with the promise of a pay increase, perhaps it’s a price we have to pay.

Among the other changes the governor has proposed is to give the New York State Public Commissioner on Public Ethics more authority to root out corruption by local government officials and require all elected state and local officials to disclose all sources of income of both themselves and their spouses. He also wants to move to public financing for elections. He does not, however, sound very optimistic about the impacts these proposed changes would have on the behavior of elected officials.

Cuomo wrote, “These reforms will make a difference. But I also want to be candid on expectations. I cannot tell the people of our state that we can end all fraud or corruption. I was an assistant district attorney and I was attorney general. I’ve handled hundreds of criminal cases. I have seen too much unseemly behavior to be naïve about the power of temptation. There are more than 10,000 governments in this state with more than 300,000 employees. People will commit venal and greedy acts. They will do selfish and, frankly, stupid things. We have seen it throughout history. Virtually every administration in every era has been touched by it. I have seen it myself, and I have been shocked and hurt by it. But we must do all we can.”