Senate “Heroes of Reform” Say: Keep Your Promise: Pass the Pledge

Senate Reformers Urge New Yorkers to Join the Call for Immediate Action on Mayor Koch’s New York Uprising Heroes of Reform Pledge

(Albany, NY) - On the first day of State Senate session, Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (35th District – D/I/WF) and Senators designated “Heroes of Reform” by Mayor Ed Koch called on Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Senate leadership today to keep their promise and pass Mayor Koch’s “New York Uprising Heroes of Reform” pledge as the Senate’s first order of business in the New Year.

Senate Democrats encouraged all New Yorkers to sign an online petition at www.PassThePledge.com, to ensure that the Senate majority keeps its promise and delivers on reform. The petition calls for action on the New York Uprising reform bills before the Senate moves on to consider other legislation.

Before the election, 54 of 62 members of the incoming Senate signed Mayor Koch’s pledge to clean up Albany. With a clear mandate to pass comprehensive reform legislation, the time has come for pledges made to become promises kept.

Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (35th District – D/I/WF) said, “We must conduct redistricting in a fair and bipartisan manner. Building a better government begins with keeping our promise to pass independent redistricting as well as ethics and budgetary reforms. With a clear bipartisan mandate to pass comprehensive reform legislation, the time has come for pledges made to be promises kept.”

The reforms in the New York Uprising pledge will:

• Create an independent redistricting commission so legislators can no longer draw their own districts.
• Strengthen ethics and disclosure laws and create an independent oversight commission to improve the standards of conduct and accountability for all elected officials.
• Take the politics out of budgeting to stop the practice of fiscal manipulation that encourages the state to spend more than it has.