A legal way to fix New York

A Times Union editorial calls on Senator Skelos and Senate Republicans to stop stalling on redistricting reform and pass it now.

Nice try, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Real slick argument, trying to stop the more independent redistricting for the Legislature that you and the other Republicans promised during last year’s campaigns. Now you say that it is unconstitutional.

With a state budget in place, there should be nothing to stop the Legislature from making good on those pledges to change how state government works. That begins with changing the way district boundaries are drawn for the 2012 legislative elections.

No longer should that be primarily the Legislature’s task. It should be done by a less political, nonpartisan commission, subject to final legislative approval. Nothing in the state constitution precludes that.

The suspiciously timed legal epiphany of Mr. Skelos and other Senate Republicans is cast in even further doubt by last week’s release of a legal analysis sought by the group ReShapeNY, a collection of advocacy groups.

Read the full article here.