THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: AN ...

64 THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: AN EVALUATION AND BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM
79 JOHANNA M. DONLIN & BRIAN J. WEBERG, NAT’L COUNCIL OF STATE LEGISLATURES,
LEGISLATIVE STAFF SERVICES: PROFILES OF THE 50 STATES AND TERRITORIES 2 (1999).
80 ALAN ROSENTHAL, THE DECLINE OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 139 (1998).
81 COUNCIL ON STATE GOVERNMENTS, BOOK OF THE STATES 158 tbl.3.22 (2003) [hereinafter
BOOK OF THE STATES].
82 The legislative director for one Assembly member notes that it is the committee staff members
who “propose the committee meeting agenda to the Chair, who then approves the agenda.”
E-mail Correspondence from B, Legislative Director for N.Y. Asssemblymember C (Oct. 10, 2003)
(on file with the Brennan Center).
83 Telephone Interview with B, Legislative Director to N.Y. State Assembly Member C, Oct.
10, 2003; E-mail Correspondence from N.Y. State Sen. D (Oct. 21, 2003) (on file with the Brennan
Center).
84 Telephone Interview with B, Legislative Director to N.Y. State Assembly Member C, Oct.
10, 2003.
85 BOOK OF THE STATES, supra note 81, at 160 tbl. 3.23. Connecticut, Maine, and
Massachusetts were not included in these comparisons because those three states use a joint committee
system that is not directly comparable to that of New York.
86 See Congressional Committee Listings, at http://www.house.gov/house/Committee
WWW.html (last visited Jan. 14, 2004) & http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/committees/
d_three_sections_with_teasers/committees_home.htm, (last visited Jan. 14, 2004).
87 As Alan Rosenthal notes: “The more committees, the more opportunities for chairmanships.
It is not unusual, therefore, for committees to proliferate during a tight race for leadership,
when rivals make promises in return for support, or in an effort by an incumbent leader to consolidate
his or her position.” ROSENTHAL, supra note 80, at 134. Section 5 of the Legislative Law establishes
the uniform annual salary of all legislators ($79,500), N.Y. LEG. § 5, but that is just the baseline
for members’ compensation. Section 5-a, which is amended every two years, provides a
“schedule” of special “allowances” for members who serve in various official special capacities.
The Senate includes 61 Senators; there are 87 special allowances for those Senators. The Assembly
includes 150 members; there are 116 special allowances for those members. No legislator may
receive more than one special allowance at any time, so all Senators and very nearly all Assembly
members receive some kind of special allowance above and beyond their base salaries. See N.Y.
LEG. § 5-a(2)(a).
88 Winnie Hu, Legislature’s Second Fiddles Take Lead Roles in Budget Fight, N.Y.TIMES, May 19,
2003, at B1.
89 John J. Pitney Jr., Leaders and Rules in the New York State Senate, 7 LEGIS. STUD. Q. 491, 494
(1982) (citing Peter A. Berle, DOES THE CITIZEN STAND A CHANCE? 31-32 (1974)).
90 See N.Y. ASSEMB. R. I, § 1(c)(3) (“The Speaker … shall appoint the chairpersons and members
of all committees thereof, except where the House shall otherwise order[.]”); N.Y. SEN. R. II,
§ 2 (“[The majority leader] shall appoint . . . the chair, vice-chair and members of all committees
and sub-committees, except when the Senate shall otherwise order.”). The speaker plays a major
role in appointing members of committees in 44 (of 49) state houses and appointing committee
chairs in 43 (of 49) state houses. State senates are more divided. In 10 (of 50, including New York)
states, the president pro tem has member and chair appointment power, though New York is the
only state in this group where the president pro tem is also the majority leader. In five other states,
the majority leader possesses such appointment powers. The senate president (in four cases, the
same as the lieutenant governor) has the power to appoint members in 19 (of 50) senates and chairs
in 18 (of 50) senates. BOOK OF THE STATES, supra note 81, at 160 tbl 3.23. Hamm and Hedlund
provide a more anecdotal perspective: “In more than two-thirds of the 99 state legislative cham-