Term limits, a ban on legislators “giving … government money to so-called charitable organizations”, but not a full time legislature. Those were among the more concrete answers from former Governor George Pataki in discussing the New York State legislature in the wake of criminal charges against former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. I also asked him about the selection of Carl Heastie as Speaker of the Assembly.
Pataki has a unique perspective on Albany’s governing triumvirate of “three men in a room”, progressing from the most junior member of the Assembly minority to one of the those proverbial “three men” as governor for 12 years. (He was also a member of the Senate between his time in the Assembly and becoming governor.)
We spoke during Pataki’s latest campaign visit to New Hampshire.