Advocates pressure Cuomo to join reform campaign

Published 6:53 pm Tuesday, June 27, 2017

ALBANY — Advocates for a convention to update the state constitution called upon Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday to get behind their campaign to bring reforms to New York’s scandal-scarred government.

Campaigns for and against such a convention are gaining momentum, and whether to authorize one will be on the November ballot. The last time amendments were made to the constitution through a citizen-supported convention was 1938.

“Governor Cuomo has a decision to make — especially if he wants to be president: Is he really going to change Albany?” said Bill Samuels, a radio talk show host and progressive Democrat.

Cuomo has said he supports such a convention. But he has also voiced concern that it could be dominated by special interests.

Evan Davis, former counsel to the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, is quarterbacking the effort to persuade New Yorkers to vote “yes” for a convention in November. He said the current governor’s father had supported such conventions. “I believe his father would be here with us,” Davis said.

Cuomo’s office did not respond when asked about the concerns that advocates expressed Tuesday.

Politically influential labor leaders who are allies of Cuomo and most lawmakers have signaled their opposition to a convention. In February, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, told the Black and Latino Caucus: “There are some very wealthy people who want to open up the constitution and really undo some of the protections for labor.”

Opponents also contend a convention would be a “boondoggle” costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, though supporters argue those cost estimates are wildly inflated.

Advocates have urged the state Board of Elections to ensure that the question to go before voters is printed on the front of ballots. But he said after speaking to one executive at the agency, it could end up on the back. Such a move, Davis said, could drive down the number of people who vote on the issue.

The state Bar Association jumped into the fray last week, expressing its strong support for a convention and reasoning that New Yorkers “should not forfeit this rare, generational opportunity to modernize and significantly improve the Constitution that forms the foundation of state government.”

“There are some very wealthy people who want to open up the constitution and really undo some of the protections for labor.

Meanwhile, North Country lawmakers are trying to get approval at the statehouse for a ballot question that would authorize an amendment to the “forever wild” clause of the constitution.

The Adirondack Council says the amendment would set up a land bank to enhance public safety and allow for telecommunications infrastructure in the Adirondacks and Catskills.

The “forever wild” clause protects the forest preserve of the Catskills and Adirondacks from logging, lease or development.

The enabling legislation for the amendment was snagged last week. While lawmakers return to the Capitol this week in a special session called by Cuomo, a spokesman for the Adirondack Council, John Sheehan, said the enabling legislation can only be advanced in a regular session of the Legislature.

Joe Mahoney covers the New York Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at jmahoney@cnhi.com<mailto:jmahoney@cnhi.com>