Blueprint For A Stronger New York

A Blueprint for A Stronger New York 
Fiscal Responsibility, Accountability, Transparency

Fiscal Responsibility

• Creation of a constitutional spending cap that would limit state spending to the Consumer Price Index or 4 percent on  a year to year basis.
• Establishment of an Independent Budget Office to provide a nonpartisan, clear and concise picture of the state finances on a on-going basis.
• Require a two-thirds supermajority for any tax increase considered by the State Legislature.
• Ban on unfunded mandates placed on local governments.
• Reduce the tax burden for all New Yorkers by empowering citizens to initiate a ballot referendum to consolidate or dissolve local government entities (The New York Government Reorganization and Consolidation Act S.5661 passed)..
• Combat waste, fraud and abuse at all levels of state government including Medicaid funding.

Accountability and Transparency

• Fundamental ethics reform to effectively and proactively combat instances of corruption.
• Break the practice of influence peddling by requiring reasonable disclosure requirements for campaign consultants who also engage in lobbying practices.
• Strengthen the voice and empower voters through the establishment of Initiative and Referendum.
• Institute additional Legislative Rules Reform in order to provide fairness, equity and bipartisanship in the State Legislature. 
• Creation of a website that will allow the public to review the performance of government programs in order to see how their tax dollars are being spent.
• Require all Executive state government entities and the Judiciary to compile and release expenditure reports similar to the State Legislature reports.