The cynical and secretive nature of New York state politics has risen to the level of folklore.

Government watchdogs have called the capital, Albany, “not unlike the Wild West,” and federal district attorney Preet Bharara has declared war on what he’s called “the show-me-the-money culture of Albany.”

The state legislature’s two most powerful members — former assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and former senate majority leader Dean Skelos — are on trial this month for corruption. Federal prosecutors are using the trials to shine a harsh light on the exploitative tendencies of New York state politicians, a recurring problem in a state where more than two dozen members of the legislature have been indicted or resigned in disgrace over the past five years.

Such patterns indicate the institutional bedrock of civic society in Albany is rotten, needing fundamental reform to move government toward accountability. It would be fitting if motivation for crucial progress sprang from these scandals at the highest levels of state power.

Together with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Silver and Skelos comprised the legendary “three men in a room” who historically decide the allotment of the state’s massive budget. If Silver and Skelos are vindicated in court, it represents very little. They’ve both hired brilliant lawyers — and there’s a fine line between actual criminal acts and the ethically questionable ways that business is done in Albany.

There’s something inherently exploitative in the accounts of Silver arranging state grants under the table for a cancer doctor who referred profitable clients to Silver’s law firm, or funneling grants to a Manhattan real estate developer that later returned the favor, according to The New York Times. That also goes for the alleged bribes and services paid to Skelos by the same real estate developer, Glenwood Management.

The recent past has seen aborted attempts to address the problem. In 2013, Gov. Cuomo established the Moreland Commission, an investigative panel to fulfill his campaign pledge of curbing corruption.

However, as the commission began to crank out indictments, Cuomo shut it down. This led outraged watchdog groups to speculate that the panel’s digging had gotten too close to the activities of certain powerful people — leaving Cuomo with an uncomfortable lack of control over the juggernaut he’d set in motion.

If Albany is going to change, bodies like the Moreland Commission must be reinstated and fully sanctioned to go after corrupt politicians — as many of them as they need to, as high up as they need to.

Any investigative team will need federal oversight to prevent Cuomo from using the panel as a political tool. The cases against Mr. Silver and Sen. Skelos both developed from the findings of the Moreland Commission — if Cuomo hadn’t shut it down, more could’ve been uncovered.

Heightened scrutiny of state lawmakers isn’t the only way to clean up the system — in fact, too much scrutiny can paralyze the legislature.

This year’s session has been described as sparse and “anemic,” as Mr. Silver’s arrest in January worried many lawmakers that their activities may be construed as unethical. That’s deeply revealing of Albany’s jaded status quo, but also means balance is necessary to keep the wheels of government spinning amidst cleanup.

Finally, there must be an extensive re-examination and rewriting of New York’s campaign finance loopholes, such as one that allows individuals and corporations to donate freely through limited liability companies (LLCs). LLCs face much higher caps on contributions than regular corporations, and by creating huge webs of them, donors can funnel limitless cash to political campaigns.

Cuomo pledged to close this glaring loophole the last time he ran for office — but he’s one of the loophole’s biggest beneficiaries, according to ProPublica, and the legislation he proposed to end it has stalled in the state Congress.

In the pursuit of clean government, reformists will have to contend with this persistent hypocrisy. Meaningful progress will only come through continued pressure on state authorities.

Thomas Beckley-Forest is a sophomore newspaper and online journalism major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at tjbeckle@syr.edu.

Published on November 10, 2015 at 12:57 am