This Week's 'New York NOW' Poll Question

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Should New York school districts drop nicknames deemed offensive by Native Americans? Click here to take survey. 
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Last Week's Results

What’s the best legislative solution to the current wave of public corruption scandals?

Your comments:

There are several solutions: 1. throw all the bums out; 2. require all campaign donations and donors to be made public 3. throw the bums. - William D., Yonkers

A complete break from outside employment, with at least the same scrutiny (and reporting) that Executive-branch employees are subject to. Only when we have a professional, full-time legislature will some of these abuses disappear. Of course, this requires a higher pay level, and rigorous ethics reporting & enforcement. - Gary D., Brooklyn

Impeach Cuomo. He is leader of the Democratic party in this state. The downstate Democrats are totally corrupt. King Andrew better get his ducks in a row . - Charles C., Sherburne

There will always be bad actors in the legislature as there are in any profession. Corruption is no worse today than it ever has been. The difference is we have a more aggressive prosecution of these crimes. That does not excuse this behavior. No single legislative solution will directly prevent corruption, but public financing of campaigns, independent non-partisan redistricting, and an end to cross-party endorsements are part of the solution. In addition, stricter laws limiting the association of legislators and their family members to CBOs that receive state dollars need to be enacted. - Mark L., Valatie

1) Investigate, 2) convict the guilty, 3) Assign prison terms for malfeasance and violation of the public trust. - James L., Argyle

Let the voters judge. - Anonymous

Term limits. - Anonymous

A good start would be to require public officials to publish yearly financial disclosure statements that itemize all of their assets and liabilities in detail. Failure to comply with this or major discrepancies in the report would result in automatic removal from office and/or criminal prosecution. These records would be reviewed by the appropriate state or federal offices who would have subpoena power. - Charles D., Long Beach Township, NJ

No legislative solution is the probably the best solution. Why? Because anything offered by the foxes guarding the hen house would be ineffective. - Rich L., New Rochelle

Passage of a law that would void any current and past publicly funded pension and benefits due a public official found guilty of corruption. - Bobbi, NYC

Two words: Term Limits. - Margaret G., Garrison

They could tell us how many hours and days actually worked in Albany, detail sources of outside income and amount of time spent practicing law or other outside second jobs, amount of bonuses know as lulus for chairing any legislative committees, amount spent on meals (does your boss pay for breakfast, lunch or dinner during the course of a regular work day?) traveling at taxpayers’ expense from home to Albany and back (does your employer pay for your commute from home to work on a daily basis?) along with a detailed list of all their “pay-for-play” campaign contributions cross cut against member item pork barrel projects and legislation they introduce on behalf of their "benefactors". Ban their ability when retiring on pensions ordinary New Yorkers can only dream about to become State Street Albany lobbyists. Nobody was drafted to run for public office. Everyone knew of both the salary, perks of office and limited work requirements. Members of the State Legislature are lucky to have their part time jobs! There are plenty of out of work New Yorkers who would be more than happy to replace them. They would actually show up for work full time and not constantly complain. - Larry P., Great Neck

It's time to have term limits. I think that having term limits is the best way to get better ways to work, and get rid of some of the legislative. - Fred N.

Comprehensive campaign finance reform, including public financing of statewide and legislative elections, lower contribution limits, and vigorous enforcement by the Attorney General. Public financing will allow folks to run who are not beholden to big money interests, and who will represent the people and not special interests. To change the culture of pay-to-play, we have to change the system. - Susan W., Albany

Investigation of ALL legislators. - Sue S., Rotterdam

Assigning independent bipartisan prosecutors to investigate corruption and prosecute lawmakers would root out corruption. - Bill C., Buffalo

Disclaimer: This is not a scientific poll. It is not intended to be viewed as representative of general public opinion. Rather, results indicate the opinions of a self-selecting group of online respondents which may or may not be representative of more widespread public opinion.

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