State Lawmakers Could Replace Ethics Panel

The budget being hammered out this week at the state capitol could include a replacement for the state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics -- also known as "JCOPE."

The Albany Times Union reports Senate Democrats and the governor's office are working on creating an 11-member "Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government."

The legislature would still choose the members of the new panel.

Good government watchdogs say that's a problem -- because the commissioners would not be independent.

Unlike JCOPE, the new commission would be subject to the Freedom of Information Law.


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