ALBANY, N.Y. -- Sheldon Silver's legal troubles sent shockwaves through the state Capitol when he was first arrested in January. His conviction Monday on all seven counts of corruption once again jolted state government.
"The reality is we are in a new day and new era and business as it has been done over the past several generations has to stop," said Assemblyman John McDonald, D-Cohoes.
Whether his conviction will shock Albany politicians into action remains to be seen. Good-government groups called for new ethics measures, along with a special session to pass them before the start of the new year, in the wake of Silver's arrest, but even after a previous ethics reforms were approved, public corruption arrests remained commonplace at the Capitol.
"You can have all kinds of ethics reform, all kinds of laws, but you're either going to have ethical people in office or you're not. It's really about sending good people to office," said Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, R-Melrose.
Silver had wielded almost unquestioned power for more than 20 years as speaker of the Assembly. Some lawmakers are now suggesting term limits for leadership posts to lessen the power of the leaders in the Senate and Assembly.
"There's no way anybody should be the speaker of the Assembly for two decades. Eight years is good enough for the president, it's certainly good enough for the majority leader of the Senate or the speaker of the Assembly," McLaughlin said.
Other lawmakers point to the need for separating legally allowable private-sector work from the work of being an elected official.
"I think there's a message here: The message is clear. For all the good you may want to do in elected office it has to be for the public good and not private benefit," said McDonald.
Meanwhile, the man who replaced Silver as speaker, Carl Heastie, listed the ethics and campaign finance measures approved during his time in office. In a statement, Heastie said the Assembly would continue its efforts to restore public trust in government.