Albany, NY – In response to the verdict convicting Senator Skelos of felony corruption, Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York, said:
No one reading the news today can argue – the system is fundamentally corrupt. The problem isn’t a few dishonest legislators. The problem is a perverse willingness to auction off government policy to the highest bidders.
Everyday New Yorkers will never be able to pay the prices billionaires can easily afford. But that’s not how democracy is supposed to work.
Our Capitol is in crisis and our leaders need to act now.
It’s time to change the system – now. It’s time to put voters first – now. The only way to change the system and put voters first is to pass comprehensive reform centered around publicly funded elections – now.
We can’t wait. Small changes are simply insufficient. When the two leaders of the State Legislature are convicted of corruption in the same year, the only acceptable response from the legislators remaining in Albany is wholesale reform.
Anything less than comprehensive reform with publicly funded elections is a slap in the face to voters. And any legislator who won’t back top-to-bottom full-scale reform to reduce the corrupting influence of billionaires in Albany should get a slap back from the voters on Election Day next November.
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