Common Cause/NY Responds to Ruling Against Independent Ethics Commission

NEW YORK, NY (05/10/2024) (readMedia)-- In response to news that Appellate Court ruled in favor of former Governor Andrew Cuomo and seeks to dismantle the newly created Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY, issued the following statement:

"No one thinks the fox guarding the hen house is a good idea – that's why it's a children's fable – except Andrew Cuomo and the 3rd department of the appellate division who apparently skipped kindergarten. It's completely self-defeating to define ethics oversight as an extension of executive authority, which is exactly why the previous commission was disbanded. COELIG is an entity that serves the public's need for real ethics oversight, and not just window dressing for whatever the Governor wants. We strongly urge Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Leticia James to appeal this wrong-headed decision. The public is absolutely sick of self-serving, corrupt politicians."