CityHallNews.com

Editorial:
By the Numbers

There is more than a little hypocrisy swirling around the legislators beating their chests as they demand Alan Hevesi’s resignation.

The comptroller appears to have stolen from the state, and his repayments of more than $170,000 for what the state ethics commission called an “unlawful benefit” show that he himself agrees. The question, should the case come before the State Senate, is whether he did it knowingly.

That is not the only question, though. As they deliberate over Hevesi’s unlawful benefit, the state senators should ponder the distribution of member items to state legislators every budget season. Member items may be legal, but they are not without moral and ethical questions.

State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno alone brought $12 million dollars back to his district ($3 million less than Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver), according to recently-released data. The money helped fund programs and schools, but also included grants like the $8,000 which the Troy Central Rod and Gun Club received to plant shrubs and to fix its roof and kitchen.

Organizations and causes around the state have every right to receive money from the budget, and their local representatives are probably best situated to sift the worthiest causes from among the loads of petitions they receive. There is a difference between appropriate discretion and personal enriching, but that distinction can get a little blurry.

True, they are not putting the money directly in their own pockets, as Hevesi effectively did. But elected officials can use the money to rewards their supporters or punish their enemies back in their districts, effectively helping themselves get reelected. That in turn means they are indirectly creating salaries and additional leadership stipends. Add in the perks of being in office and the cash they can earn on the side, and suddenly member items do not seem so unrelated to personal bank accounts.

Member items increase each year, contributing to a state budget which grew four times faster than the inflation rate between 2005 and 2006. That $114.7 billion—a figure revised by Hevesi’s office in July, up from the Legislature’s own estimate of $113.4 billion—is 10 percent higher than the budget which immediately preceded it. The annual state budget’s increasing resemblance to Violet Beauregarde after chewing Willy Wonka’s blueberry gum means consistently high taxes, more borrowing and thus more debt service. Reckless spending begets reckless spending, and New York’s taxpayers are literally paying the price.

Harming people using other people’s money for their own benefit? That legislators have worked out a way to make this all legal, and that they only revealed the recipients and sponsors of member items when forced to by a lawsuit pursued by the Albany Times Union, is added cause for concern. Something is rotten at the core of the system, and the more than 90 percent incumbent reelection rate suggests that the lawmakers themselves are not the ones suffering as a result.

All of the cash involved is taxpayer money, drawn from the same overall pot as the money that went to Hevesi’s driver. A comparison of the hard numbers should make people think twice as they call for Hevesi to face consequences.