Member items
One of the fiscally wise moves by Gov. David A. Paterson was to veto, one at a time, nearly 6,700 spending items totaling almost $190 million in pork-barrel spending known as member items. Two years later, Assembly Democrats are talking about resuming the practice.
The Albany Times-Union reports that Assembly Majority Leader Sheldon Silver has asked Democratic members to submit lists of organizations in their districts in need of funding to be included in the budget due April 1. The speaker said that there were “no commitments, no guarantees. ... But as we close down the budget, you know, it’s possible. There’s a great need out there. There are organizations that are doing the work of government that have been cut in past years, and just keeping them afloat is important.”
Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari told the Times-Union, “If we go three years in a row without them, they may never come back — and I would hate to see that happen.”
To recall, members items allowed lawmakers to direct funds to organizations that they believed deserved funding. There were no guidelines or controls. Individual senators and Assembly members decided how to distribute their allocation and who would receive the funds.
The money often went to organizations operating as nonprofits that lavished lucrative salaries and benefits on themselves and family members. A prime example is former Sen. Perdro Espada, who faces prosecution for allegedly siphoning $14 million from a health clinic he established to himself and family.
The funds were also a political football used by legislative leaders to reward loyalists. There was no formula distributing funds fairly. The majority party in both chambers received more funds than the minority. Within that, high-ranking legislative leaders took disproportionately more for themselves and their favored organizations than less-tenured members.
Although there has been no distribution since 2009, some unspent member-item money remains in a community projects fund totaling $105 million. Demonstrating the unfairness of the system, Assembly Democrats control $68 million, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo controls $29 million and Senate Democrats, $4 million. Republicans in both chambers have less than $1 million.
Gov. Cuomo proposed closing out the fund last year but lawmakers resisted. The governor did not include any additional money for member items in his $132.5 billion spending plan.
The state is still coming to terms with multibillion dollar deficits, which have led to sharp reductions in spending that have hit schools, local governments and state agencies. Local groups hit by the loss have adapted or found other sources to sustain their operations.
It’s time to put an end to member items, close out the fund and put the remaining money to better use, such as further deficit reduction.
