August 27th, 2009

From the Daily Messanger
Canandaigua, N.Y. —

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, today launched an online petition in seeking support for his proposed bill People’s Convention to Reform New York. Kolb stated in a release the convention could create spending and property tax caps, term limits, a nonpartisan way to draw legislative districts that have long protected incumbents and reform the budget process.
Find the petition at www.reformny.org

Kolb referred to two separate polls showing the majority of voters want a convention: a recent Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll found 64 percent want reform; a Siena College Research Institute survey showed 63 percent support it.

“A People’s Convention to Reform New York would deliver much-needed change to a dysfunctional system where special interests and political insiders collude to block any efforts to increase accountability and transparency in our state Legislature,” Kolb stated.

Kolb said elected officials and registered lobbyists could not run as delegates or serve in the People’s Convention to Reform New York.

Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran has said Republicans, whom Democrats put in the minority after decades of controlling the Senate, are now engaging in “Monday morning quarterbacking 40 years after the game.” He warned the bill is a ploy by Republicans to limit the authority of Democrats who now control state government.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.