Citizens Present Petition for Change to NY State Legislature

Exercising their constitutional right to petition the government, representatives of Citizens for Better Government in NY (CBGNY) presented petitions to the Assembly and Senate calling for process changes that will make government more open, fair, democratic, deliberative, transparent, effective, and accountable to citizens. The petition, signed by citizens from 172 communities in every region of the state, calls for legislative process changes that will empower individual legislators.

The State of the State address is the primary focus of everyone today. However, we are in Albany to address the state of the legislature. While our petition focuses on 3 significant reforms to return democracy and stop the decline of New York, today we are here to demand 4 specific legislative rules changes as recommended by the Brennan Center of NYU Law School. These changes are:

1) Strengthen the committee process by creating mechanisms for rank-and-file members to force

hearings and vote on bills.

2) End leadership control over bills getting to the floor by creating a mechanism for rank-and-file

members to force floor votes.

3) Institutionalize conference committees and,

4) Codify fair, objective criteria for allotting resources and staff to members and committees.

“Voters have spoken by electing a reform-minded governor. Now the citizens are called to pressure representatives to reclaim from a dictatorial legislative leadership the power to finally solve the real problems facing our state and represent us instead of special interests,” said Rome Celli of Brighton, Vice President of CBGNY. “We want the legislature to know that people are expressing their demands for changes that will empower individual legislators and end “Three Men in a Room” as New York’s form of government.”, said Celli.

“Article One of the NY State Constitution guarantees citizens the right to petition the government,” said Reginald Neale of Farmington, CBGNY’s Secretary. The petition covers 3 major reforms and our call today is for the 4 specific legislative rules changes recommended by the Brennan Center,” said Neale.

“This petition is the first presentation of our demands”, said Bob Volpe of Rochester. “The E-march is an on-going effort to gain citizen support for change. This activity is citizen-driven so the more people sign on, the more pressure we will exert and the sooner we will get the reforms we deserve. Our goal is to tell legislators that the voices of voting citizens in their districts are louder than the voices of special interests” said Volpe.

Citizens for Better Government in New York

Date: January 3, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE www.cbgny.org