Every year in Albany, legislation regarding wide-ranging concerns gets included in the state budget and becomes law before most people even see it coming. The end of the legislative session in June carries questionable governing of its own as the Legislature and governor wait until the last minute to hammer out controversial legislation without much public transparency before heading home for the summer.
Recent topics of discussion among lawmakers have included so-called Clean Slate legislation that would seal court records related to some felony and misdemeanor convictions to ease the burden on job-seekers looking for a fresh start. While the Business Council of New York State has come out in favor of the change, critics have included school boards expressing concern about the ability to properly screen the background of prospective employees.
Lawmakers have also recently debated a slavery reparations study that would involve forming a commission to assess the feasibility of managing the “distribution and administration of remedies and reparations” tied to injuries related to the state’s historic involvement in the slave trade.
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And as the session drew to a close this week, the state was poised to act on the potential confirmation of the New York Power Authority leader amid serious discrimination allegations under his watch.
All three are examples of items being discussed by the key decision-makers largely in secret. They are also all separate items that warrant robust public examination and debate, which could have happened if lawmakers had done the work they should have back in mid-April or earlier rather than leave important pieces undone at the last minute.
The Citizen Editorial board includes executive editor Jeremy Boyer and managing editor Mike Dowd