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ALBANY---Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced that the Office of Attorney General will initiate a formal review of the approximately 6,000 legislative member items which will be contracted this year and seek to recover any misspent funds. The review will ensure they meet the constitutional standard of fulfilling a legal public purpose.
Cuomo also laid out a four-prong review which he proposed should be applied to future member items to ensure the legality of the grants and legal use of taxpayer dollars.
"The taxpayers of New York must be assured that their hard-earned dollars are used for legitimate public purposes-period," Cuomo said. "Without this guarantee, the public trust in our state government will continue to erode. It is time to restore this breach and we will not rest until we return our state government to one of the highest integrity."
In a statement he delivered at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, Cuomo laid out a comprehensive agenda of three action items that the Office will undertake to help bring accountability and transparency to the system in which taxpayer dollars are awarded throughout the state.
Cuomo announced he will:
--Direct the office to review all of the approximately 6,000 member items being contracted this year to ensure they meet the legal mandate of having a public purpose. Cuomo said no contract will be approved by the Attorney General's office unless it explicitly states the public purpose for which the funds will be used. The Attorney General will seek to recover any state funds wrongfully disbursed under the Tweed law or other statutory authority.
-- Propose that all future member item grants meet four criteria: 1) a bona fide legal public purpose for the grant; 2) effective administration by a state agency pursuant to a contract with specific terms and conditions which can be measured and controlled; 3) compliance in actual grant implementation; and 4) full disclosure of all grants throughout the budget process.
--Expand and elevate the status of the Public Integrity Unit. Cuomo will elevate the Public Integrity bureau to a Special Deputy Attorney General level and will increase the number of individuals designated to working in the bureau.
1-04-07
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© 2007 North
Country Gazette
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