Sen. Schneiderman's Statement On the Senate's Historic Rules Reforms

At long last, we have achieved meaningful rules reform that will forever change the way the state Senate conducts business. The days of top-down, leadership-dominated policymaking are over. The Senate adopted many of the key principles of the bipartisan agreement I proposed last week, including the historic rule change that allows a simple majority of Senators to decide what bills will make it to the floor for a vote. Today’s reforms also provide greater equity in the distribution of resources between both parties and increase openness and transparency in the legislative process.

The chaos of recent weeks in Albany has highlighted the need for the reforms that I have been advocating for years. It’s been 5 years since I released Albany 101, which outlined the root cause of the Senate’s dysfunction and identified reforms to fix it. I am proud to report that we have fulfilled our promise to the public, and that we are finally transforming the Senate to make it work for all New Yorkers.