July Meeting: J.C. Polanco

Posted by Brooklyn Young Republican Club

Ever wonder what Assembly Minority Leader James N. Tedisco and Assembly Republicans look to accomplish in the minority in Albany?

Come and hear our guest speaker this month, J.C. Polanco, Director of Minority Leader Tedisco’s New York City Regional Office, speak with us about some of the many sensible and "good-government" reforms that the Assembly Minority is pushing and the Democrats are fighting tooth-and-nail.

Assembly Minority Leader James N. Tedisco along with his Republican colleages, introduced several significant rule reforms in the Assembly in March, all of which were vehemently rejected by Democrats:

  • All legislators shall receive equal resources and staff allotments. Currently, Assembly Majority members receive more than twice as much money to pay staff as do their Minority counterparts ($183,373 per Majority member versus $86,092 per Minority member);

  • Committee ratios shall reflect the ratio of majority to minority members that are currently elected to the house;

  • Require bills with Home Rule requests from local municipalities to be considered in committee within four weeks of introduction. Currently these types of bills are jammed through at the end of session and are often used as political bargaining chips;

  • All bills reported to the legislative floor must be accompanied by a detailed public committee report to help identify the legislative intent;

  • Require fiscal impact statements on all bills;

  • Require any bill that imposes a mandate on municipalities to be specifically labeled on the calendar;

  • Require a super-majority (2/3) vote for final passage of a bill imposing, continuing or reviving a tax;

  • Permit each legislator to have at least one substantive bill discharged from committee and voted on the floor each legislative session;

  • Allow each member to sponsor a bill without first obtaining the consent of the Introducer;

  • Require 24 hours notice before substituting a member of a standing committee;

  • Require that a bill or a resolution sponsored by at least 76 members be discharged from committee;

  • Require three days notice before a resolution can be voted upon on the floor; and

  • Require 24 hours notice of a special committee meeting or of the addition or deletion of an item from a committee agenda.

More links on Assembly Minority reform measures:

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