April 5, 2022

The Honorable Kathy Hochul

Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Hochul,

We write to share our support for the plan proposed by good government groups to create a new ethics
enforcement entity.1 We are committed to the goal of replacing the Joint Commission on Public Ethics
(JCOPE) with a truly independent and functioning ethics body. We cannot, in good conscience, support a
proposal that does not adequately address the structural failures of JCOPE, including by providing for
independent appointments.

Under the good government groups’ proposal, the Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, Democratic
and Republican Legislative leaders would each appoint one individual to a seven-member selection
committee. The selection committee would then be tasked with soliciting applications and selecting five
members of the ethics commission based on statutory criteria. The selection process would be transparent
and appointing entities would be barred from attempting to influence the selection committee. This
proposal provides needed separation between the individuals overseen by the ethics commission and the
members of that commission.

Any plan that allows the Governor and Legislative leaders to directly appoint members to the commission
at a minimum could appear as a conflict of interest. New Yorkers should rightly be concerned that
members of the commission may be selected to protect the interest of elected officials –– and not to uphold
ethics and integrity in our government. Asking law school deans to rubber stamp appointments by elected
officials is also not sufficient to provide public confidence.

JCOPE was created in 2011 to restore public trust in government –– but it was set up to fail and has fallen
short at every turn. It is incumbent upon us to not repeat the same mistakes and to ensure meaningful
independence. We urge you to adopt a proposal that at a minimum utilizes a selection committee.

1
Proposed by Citizens Union, Committee to Reform the State Constitution, Common Cause/NY, League of Women
Voters of New York State, New York City Bar Association-Committee on Government Ethics and State Affairs,
New York Public Interest Research Group, Reinvent Albany, Sexual Harassment Working Group. See plan here:
https://reinventalbany.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Memo-to-Legislature-on-Ethics-Commission-Appointment-
March-23-2022.pdf?mc_cid=59d2b6a670&mc_eid=76c06c6fa9
With gratitude,

Alessandra Biaggi Jabari Brisport

New York State Senate, District 34 New York State Senator, District 25

Andrew Gounardes Robert Jackson

New York State Senator, District 22 New York State Senator, District 31

Rachel May Jessica Ramos

New York State Senator, District 53 New York State Senator, District 13

Julia Salazar Emily Gallagher

New York State Senator, District 18 New York Assembly Member, District 50

Jessica González-Rojas Nathalia Fernandez

New York Assembly Member, District 34 New York Assembly Member, District 80

Yuh-Line Niou Ron Kim

New York Assembly Member, District 65 New York Assembly Member, District 40