My 'Bridge To Somewhere': NYSenate.gov

Some Majority Leaders built roads and some built baseball stadiums.

My goal as the new Leader in the Senate is to build a different type of infrastructure: one that is more immediate, more meaningful, and takes us into a new era of direct democracy.

Today, we roll out an entirely new New York State Senate website: NYSenate.gov.

It is a cutting-edge website that will serve as the platform for unprecedented openness and transparency about the work of the Senate. It serves all members—regardless of party affiliation—so they may communicate with the New Yorkers they represent. Whether it is through the sharing of blog posts and press releases to showing the inner workings of Committee meetings, the Senate can now interact with the people it serves—all in real time.

The new site pulls the Senate out of the technological dark ages to the forefront of Government 2.0; we join the ranks of President Barack Obama’s Whitehouse.gov and other websites that are dedicated to leveraging technology for better government.

But technology is not the only story here. NYSenate.gov is part of a broader slate of reforms I committed to when taking on the post of Senate Majority Leader. I have pledged to improve the inner workings of the Senate. The first step was rules reform. And now, New Yorkers will be able to learn what their Senators are up to simply by logging on to a web browser.

In this era of change, reform and an engaged citizenry, these changes will help each of us as we strive to revitalize our great state.

Watch the full press conference below.