Ethics controversies continue to dominate the news in New York.  The former Senate Majority Leader and his son were formally indicted, there were reports of the Nassau County District Attorney investigating a powerful Long Island-based Senator’s misuse of public funds, and the FBI raided the residence of a long-time political operative in Buffalo and two others.

All in one week.  Unbelievable.

These latest actions come after the indictment of the former Speaker of the Assembly and the guilty plea of a legislator.  And of course, these actions occur in a context of ongoing ethics scandals that have plagued Albany for years.

In a normally functioning democracy, lawmakers would react: hearings would be held, legislation would be introduced, and news conferences would be held.

But in Albany, not much more than a peep.

To his credit, last week the state’s Attorney General unveiled his ethics reform package, but Governor Cuomo quickly shot it down claiming that there is too little time left in the session for a meaningful debate over his proposal.  What did the governor think should be done?  Not a word.

Why would the governor sweep the ethics issue under the rug?  The most charitable interpretation is that the governor’s political calculus has determined the Senate’s and Assembly’s new leadership simply cannot handle negotiating additional significant legislation, much less sweeping ethics changes.

The most pessimistic interpretation is that the governor has given up, and would rather not be associated with Albany or talking about its ongoing scandals.

Ethics reform is a tough sell even under the best of circumstances.  While there is no doubt that legal changes are needed, what is really needed is the creation of an independent enforcement agency that regulates state ethics requirements without fear or favor.

And the creation of such an entity is something that Albany does not want to do.  There is too much fear that an independent agency could end up a runaway enforcer, criminalizing the log-rolling practices found in the normal legislative process.  An additional fear is that the enforcer could end up being taken over by partisans who would use ethics laws to unfairly target political opponents.

Yet, New Yorkers have been promised independent ethics enforcement.  In 2010, then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo promised to reform New York’s ethics law.  He pledged:

To restore public confidence and address this potential and actual conflict of interest, [to] … establish an independent State ethics commission with robust enforcement powers to investigate and punish violations of law by members of both the executive and legislative branches.”

The governor’s diagnosis was correct: the key to real reform – and success in ending Albany’s ethical weaknesses – was, and is, the establishment of an independent ethics enforcement agency that would enforce New York law without fear or favor.

Since he became governor, Albany has regularly passed ethics bills with lots of fanfare, but with little impact.  Instead of creating a system of ethics regulated by an independent enforcer, they instead approve limited measures that usually require more disclosures.

And now, after what may turn out to have been the lowest ethical point in New York State history, the governor and the legislative leaders are choosing to ignore the issue and kick the can down the road.

New York deserves better.  We elect our representatives to solve problems, not ignore them.