ALBANY, N.Y. -- State lawmakers wrapped up the legislative session on Friday with agreements to combat corruption and enhance disclosure. Chief among the deals was the first passage of a constitutional amendment to strip corrupt officials of their pensions.
"Folks said, 'no one way pension forfeiture was going to get passed in Albany," said Assemblyman David Buchwald, D-White Plains. "Maybe in the old ways they were right, but we never gave up and I'm glad we're on the verge of really making success for New Yorkers."
The amendment must still be approved again by the Legislature next year and then by voters in a referendum, but after a parade of arrests and convictions at the Capitol, lawmakers say it's time.
"Nothing grates the public's trust and feelings more than someone who is convicted of crimes in their office and then collect a $100,000 dollar taxpayer-funded pension," said state Sen. Robert Ortt, R-North Tonawanda.
The ethics agreement includes other components, including new disclosure requirements for lobbyists, political consultants who represent lawmakers and an effort to better regulate super PACs, but ethics watchdogs faulted the way in which the measures were agreed to.
"The public is effectively cut out of it. There's no meaningful hearing process. I've seen these kinds of proposals pass in the past and they have significant flaws that come down in the road," said Blair Horner, NYPIRG legislative director.
The agreements are being voted on and the impact of the ethics measures, good or bad, may not be fully realized until they take effect.
"We think the process could be better, but you can't fault them for advancing reforms which could improve the process," Horner said.
Many of the ethics measures appear aimed at the political practices of Mayor Bill de Blasio, a liberal Democrat in New York City who Cuomo has in the last year been locked in an intense feud.
Read more on Capital Tonight's NY State of Politics blog.
There was also movement on daily fantasy sports and ridesharing services in upstate New York. Both daily fantasy sports, in the form of DraftKings and FanDuel, and ridesharing apps, such as Uber and Lyft, gained a following in the window that they operated across New York.
The Democratic-led Assembly approved a bill that would allow daily fantasy sports after a brief debate. DraftKings and FanDuel suspended operations in New York after a legal battle with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who challenged the legality of the business on the grounds of the constitutional ban on gambling.
The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where racino operators have been lobbying against the legislation.
Meanwhile, in that Republican-controlled Senate, a measure that would bring ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft upstate passed by a vote of 44-17. An agreement on the legislation with the Assembly is yet to be reached, however, with lawmakers disagreeing over the terms of insurance for transit companies.
The "Safe School Drinking Water Act" would require testing for lead in any school built prior to 2014 that draws its water from a municipal source. One bill that is heading to the governor's desk would extend the state's statute of limitations, allowing people exposed to PFOA to file a lawsuit within three years of an area being designated as a superfund site.
Lawmakers are also working on a bill that would remove pensions from any public official who is convicted of a felony as well as better testing for lead in school's water.