Comm. to Save NY & Cuomo Administration Coordinating to Auction Government Access

"We are seeing a Governor that seems to have put his editorial byline, his State of the State, and even the State's Constitution up for auction, with the most well-connected New Yorkers brokering the sale"

NEW YORK, NY (06/05/2012)(readMedia)-- The following satatement wasreleased today by Agnes Rivera from Community Voices Heard and Wayne Starks from VOCAL-NY:

Governor Cuomo's priorities for New York shouldn't be driven by big money from gambling companies and other corporate interests. But what we've seen is the bigger the checkbook, the bigger the voice you have in state government. While big money in Albany is nothing new, the Committee to Save New York's relationship with Cuomo is taking the influence of corporate money in politics to a whole new level.

The Cuomo Administration is no longer denying that it coordinates with the Committee to Save New York, but only says the relationship is not 'improper,' according to the New York Times.

Over a year ago, we submitted a request to the state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics requesting an investigation into the relationship between the Administration and the Committee but have heard nothing back from the new Commission that was formed by Cuomo and run by a political appointee of his.

We were primarily concerned at the time that the Committee and the Governor were coordinating on an unprecedented scale to cut programs and services that working and poor New Yorkers rely on and to win tax cuts for the wealthiest New Yorkers. Now these concerns are even broader.

We are seeing a Governor that seems to have put his editorial byline, his State of the State, and even the State's Constitution up for auction, with the most well-connected New Yorkers brokering the sale and the only available watchdog someone who was appointed by the Governor himself.

Thursday's JCOPE meeting will be an important moment to understanding government ethics in the age of Andrew Cuomo.

###