On December 10th, 2016 the LWVR met to come to a consensus on updates to NYS legislative procedures.

The Rivertowns League reached consensus on the following items:

Term Lengths for State Legislators

The consensus was for staggered 2-4-4 terms for both Assembly Members and Senators. A system with legislators who serve one two-year term and two four-year terms every ten years is considered a 2-4-4 term system.

Legislative Leadership and Committee Chairs

There was a consensus for restrictions on leadership and committee chair positions.  As it can take time to develop expertise, 8-10 years seemed like a reasonable limit for a committee chair and there would be allowances to assume other titles.  Entrenched leadership can produce corruption and stagnation and chill the development of new talent to move up the ranks.  There was agreement that no limit should be imposed on the number of positions allowed in each chamber.

Allowances for Leadership Positions, or “LULUs”

A metric should be developed to define which committees deserve stipends as some committees accomplish meaningful work while others appear to exist to “make work”.

Outside Income

There was a consensus that no limit should be imposed on outside income but all income (including campaign contributions) should be publicly traceable and enforced by an independent ethics board.  Legislators should recuse themselves if a conflict presents itself. All compensation should weigh in the cost of living in different areas of the state.