THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: AN ...

2 THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: AN EVALUATION AND BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM
quences. Fourth, we analyzed the vote tallies for all bills on which the Senate and
Assembly voted from 1997 through 2001 to determine how often bills are voted
on and rejected by either chamber. Fifth, we conducted historical research on New
York’s legislative procedures to place Albany’s current system in historical context,
drawing principally upon contemporary press accounts and commission reports,
proceedings of the constitutional conventions, and scholarly secondary sources. 14
Sixth, we analyzed the published rules of the 99 state legislative chambers and
Congressional procedures to compare the rules and practices of New York State’s
Assembly and Senate with those of other legislatures. 15 Finally, in a national telephone
survey, we interviewed at least one source in each state (where possible, from
a non-partisan research or library service associated with the legislature and devoted
to maintaining the state’s legislative records) in order to learn the frequency of
debate on the floor, roll call procedures used, and attendance at votes on the
floor. 16
Through all of these analyses, we compare New York’s legislative process with
those in the other 49 states and in the U.S. Congress. Where possible, we have
also compared New York’s Legislature with a smaller universe of nine “professional”
legislatures (18 chambers) that are most directly comparable to New York
with respect to levels of staff support, time in session, and other criteria. 17
Five values served by a well-functioning legislature inform this evaluation of New
York State’s legislative process: 18
■ Representativeness. A representative legislature facilitates legislators’ full and
faithful representation of their constituents. Individual legislators can and do
actively participate in crafting, debating, and passing legislation that reflects
their constituents’ interests. Members of each house can obtain the full
chamber’s consideration of bills that have obtained majority support by
bringing such bills to the floor for a vote. Through these and other procedural
guarantees, legislators ensure that their constituents’ voices are heard and
their interests served by the legislature. 19
■ Deliberativeness. A deliberative legislature ensures that “enacted legislation is
based on a public consensus on the need for, as well as the type of, change.” 20
Committees function as incubators of innovative policy ideas and repositories
of expertise where members gather evidence, identify solutions, and
debate and draft legislation tailored to the targeted problem. Legislators
critically review and debate bill terms and offer amendments prior to a final
floor vote to improve legislation and eliminate unintentional errors.
Procedural rules ensure that all legislators (and members of the public) have
opportunities to read legislation and to address its merits prior to voting. In
short, the legislative process reaches the best policy result by encouraging and
facilitating policy innovation, robust debate, careful review of legislation, and
substantive amendments by legislators. Indeed, without deliberation the
value of a legislature, as against a single decision maker, is not clear.