This year was full of new reforms passed by state lawmakers, but advocates are calling for more to be done once the legislature reconvenes in the new year.
In particular, good government activists are joining a call from the state's Public Interest Research Group to revise how the state's ethics watchdog Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) is handled.
This comes after their pursuit of rape survivor Kat Sullivan for lobbying violations, all while being criticized for being too lenient toward Joe Percoco, former aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, during his corruption case.
Officials with the New York Public Interest Group are also concerned with the amount of leaks that come from inside JCOPE.
"There's lots of things we're interested in, but in the area of reform, we will looking to follow up on the ethics issue; there is round condemnation of JCOPE, which I think creates an opportunity,” said Blair Horner of NYPIRG. “There will be a follow-up on campaign finance to the public financing commission. Last year, there was some voting proposals — automatic voter registration — that fell off the table at the end. We will be looking to follow up."
At the top of the group's priority list heading into 2020 is finishing what was started in 2019, specifically passing automatic voter registration.