Byrne Introduces Bill to Prohibit Government Officials from Profiting Off Book Deals in Office Written by Office of Assemblyman Kevin Byrne
Assemblyman Kevin Byrne (R,C,I,SAM,ROS-Mahopac) introduced legislation on Friday, April 2 which would prohibit statewide elected officers and certain appointed officers from writing and selling a book during their term in public office. The legislative proposal comes after numerous concerns have been raised regarding Gov. Cuomo receiving a $4 million book deal about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The book in question,
American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, was released in October 2020 while the pandemic continued to negatively impact the lives of millions of New Yorkers. As of March 2021, publication of the piece has been halted.
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Greenberg Traurig LLP issued the following announcement on Apr. 2.
City & State has named former Court of Appeals Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, co-chair of Greenberg Traurig, LLP’s National Appellate Practice Group, and former New York City official Ed Wallace, co-chair of the firm’s New York City office to the City & State 2021 Law Power 100 list.
City & State’s Law Power 100 list includes award-winning litigators and partners at top white-collar firms and is based on who’s having an impact in New York’s public policy and government spheres. The list features prominent public officials, top legal advisers, and powerful prosecutors at the local, state, and federal level.
Rockland County Legislator Harriet Cornell is leading the call for additional hearing dates after some citizens were not provided with the opportunity to speak during a state hearing on a proposal by Danskammer Energy LLC to build a new power plant on the shore of the Hudson River. The utility company is currently applying for a permit to construct a new 600-megawatt natural gas-fired plant next to its established 70-year-old 532-megawatt plant in Newburgh.
Legislator Cornell did get the chance to testify during the day-long hearing conducted by the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment, popularly referred to as the Siting Board.
Vivian Zayas, whose mother died in a New York nursing home, provides insight into Gov. Cuomo’s mounting scandals on ‘Fox and Friends.’
The New York Post editorial board slammed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D., on Sunday, saying he committed a crime while writing his book American Crisis and called for an investigation into the matter.
The editorial board wrote the scandal-ridden governor received help from top aides along with other staff when writing drafts of his book about handling the coronavirus pandemic and did so knowing it violated an ethics ruling. It’s now clear that top aides Melissa DeRosa and Stephanie Benton plus other staff assisted Cuomo with drafts of American Crisis despite an ethics ruling that cleared the deal only if he didn’t use state resources to write it. That makes it a plain violation of state law, the editorial board said.
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Todd covers local government in the Finger Lakes. He has a JD degree the Lincoln Law School of Sacramento. Send tips to todd@fingerlakes1.com.
The Ontario County Board of Supervisors met for a regular meeting on April 1, 2021. During the meeting, the Board continued its long-standing process of blocking resolutions into groups for consideration. The Board considered and unanimously approved 39 resolutions without discussion or debate.
The Government Operations and Insurance Committee moved five resolutions to the full Board for consideration.
The first Resolution authorized acceptance of a $91,912.47 grant from the New York State Board of Elections. These grant funds were from the Cybersecurity Remediation Grant Program for program costs running from December 21, 2019, through December 31, 2021.