The other day I walked into our foyer to find the clothes rack pulled off the wall and clothing strewn all about. One more heavy winter coat was the breaking point.
Such is the case with the state Legislature, its leaders and New York's chief executives and their use of a constitutionally granted entity called a "message of necessity."
The original purpose of that legislative provision was to respond to an emergency by expediting a vote on legislation and bypassing the law that normally allows the Legislature to fulfill its constitutionally designated obligation to act as a check on the chief executive. There is also a law that provides legislators with a three-day period to read and evaluate legislation before it comes to the floor for debate and a vote.
That law also gives the public and the media at least three days to review and comment on legislation before it is voted on. This is crucial to enable us to do our job as elected representatives.
But now New York's legislative branch has reached its own breaking point. The message of necessity has become more a message of political expediency.
Journalist Bob Woodward once said the worst thing we have to fear as Americans is "secret government because in darkness democracy dies."
Last year, in response to a middle of the night plethora of messages of necessity on serious policy issues such as pension reform, teacher evaluation, redistricting, casino gambling and DNA evidence gathering, I authored, and several of my colleagues sponsored, the New York State Government Transparency Act.
In years past, I and many of my colleagues have voted for messages of necessity. We did so to be cooperative, and in many cases, not to hold up a budget. The messages were often needed to cover minor tweaks and not sweeping policy change.
This legislation would reform the way a message of necessity is used and better protect the Legislature's constitutional role as a check on the executive branch.
We need a constitutional amendment that would stop the clock on all legislative proceedings between midnight and 8 a.m., and limit messages of necessity, except in the case of genuine emergencies such as a security threat, natural disaster or dire fiscal situation.
The bill that I'm proposing would require a two-thirds majority vote to take up any message of necessity.
The recent use of a message of necessity by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to push through a new gun control law on the first day of the 2013 legislative session has drawn debate — not just on the merits of the bill, but for the process of passing legislation with no public input.
Regardless of one's position on the merits of what's known as the NY SAFE Act, few would argue that the process for passing such sweeping legislation was healthy for our representative democracy. One need only look at the fact that after the legislation passed, many of the firearms being used by our police in the line of duty were now outlawed.
The governor has said that the Legislature shouldn't be a debating society and that we need results. And he's right. For too long, New York had one of the most dysfunctional state governments in the nation. Working together across party lines with the governor, we've begun to change that perception. But the ends never justify the means.
Although using messages of necessity is not unique to this governor, he did promise that he would have the most open and transparent administration in the history of New York. We believe the New York State Government Transparency Act can help the governor accomplish his goal.
Ultimately, if the governor and the leaders of the Legislature think that working in darkness is so good for New York taxpayers, then why don't they hold their news conferences at 3 a.m.?
Because they want a full airing of their ideas to the public through the media.
I believe the Founding Fathers had it right when they developed the three separate branches of government to be a check on each other. If a deal hatched in darkness is right for New York, then it will stand the scrutiny of daylight.
Jim Tedisco is a Republican assemblyman representing Glenville and parts of Saratoga County.