Albany reform

The transfer of power in the state Senate to Democrats under the leadership of Sen. Malcolm Smith of Queens presents an opportunity for meaningful reform to make the legislative process more democratic, at least in the Senate.

With a 32-30 Democratic majority, Democrats take control of the chamber for the first time in 43 years with Sen. Smith as majority leader. He is now in position to follow through on talk of reforming the most dysfunctional legislature in the nation. And the Brennan Center for Justice has offered a road map for long overdue changes in its just released "Still Broken: New York State Legislative Reform."

The aptly named report from the New York University center updates a 2004 report calling for several changes in how the Legislature functions, or fails to. The conclusion: nothing has really changed in Albany. Some changes have been made, but they "were by no means transformative," according to the study.

In fact, some changes "codified the status quo" with rules that stifle "rigorous deliberation and debate," according to the report, which went on to say: "In 2006 and 2007, most standing committees met infrequently or not at all. There were almost no hearings on major legislation. Not a single major bill was the subject of a detailed committee report."

In the Senate, committee members can still vote without being present, and legislation that did reach the floor did not include required detailed committee reports. Committee chairs receive additional stipends on the assumption that additional work is required for heading committees; yet that is hard to justify when committees rarely function.

One of the major procedural problems is the stranglehold legislative leaders such as the new majority leader and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, have over legislation. Nothing comes to the floor without their approval and without the certainty of passage. "Leadership maintained near total control over what bills reached the floor. And on the floor, there was little substantive debate; every bill brought to the floor for a vote in either chamber passed," the center reported.

It also faulted the inequitable distribution of resources among members of the Senate and Assembly based on party control, loyalty to the leadership and seniority. The legislative process remains "opaque" with records hard to obtain.

To make the process more transparent and democratic, the Brennan Center recommended that committee members be allowed to convene meetings and that they be present to vote. The rank-and-file legislators should be allowed to discharge bills from committee and send them to the floor for a vote.

To end the practice of last-minute, end-of-session frenzy of legislative action, lawmakers should be given time to consider each bill with proposed legislation accompanied by adequate fiscal analysis. Member funds should be distributed equally, and records should be "fully transparent and easily accessible" through the Internet.

In its opening remarks, the report cited a number of statements by Sen. Smith as minority leader favoring reforms outlined by the Brennan Center. Now he should make them happen.