Assemblyman Steve Katz (R,I-Yorktown) blasted the process of voting on new

state Board of Regents members, which was held today in a joint legislative
session. The process kept lawmakers in the dark less than 24 hours before the
vote, and out of the two dozen candidates who applied for the five open board
positions, only two candidates' names were announced prior to last evening's
Joint Budget Hearing on Education.

"We've all heard about Albany's notorious dysfunction and now working in
Albany, I have certainly seen it first-hand, but the lack of openness on voting for
new Regents members truly takes the cake," said the freshman assemblyman. "I
can understand why many of my colleagues vote against the process, or abstain
from voting all together."

Due to the broken process, many legislators have traditionally voted "no" to
Regents Board members and in prior years, entire conferences have abstained
from participating. The assemblyman said, "As a new lawmaker, I wanted to make
sure I wasn't missing something. I checked with my more seasoned colleagues
and was told 'this is Albany's business as usual.' Many of my colleagues told
me they have, for years, voted down the Regents - not because of the individual
candidates, but because of the process. Furthermore, because the process
requires a joint legislative vote, many of my colleagues feel that the process is
biased in Sheldon Silver's favor and have decided to abstain from voting at all."

Assemblyman Katz said that the Regents vote was just one example of how
business is being conducted "as usual" in Albany. He said, "Over the last couple
years, residents have been voting with their feet and, last fall, they certainly made
their views known. New Yorkers do not want to see business as usual in Albany
anymore and that's why so many new lawmakers are here with me, trying to
reform the process."

As part of reforming the process, Assemblyman Katz wants to keep his

constituents informed about the process and the dysfunction. He stated, "At my
town halls and mobile office hours, I have been sharing my first impressions of
Albany with constituents and they are shocked. They are not only shocked by the
process, but by the fact that it's not being talked about."

The legislative process requires bills to be printed and aged for three days before
being eligible to be voted on. Physical copies of bills are placed on lawmakers
desks in the Chamber. According to Assemblyman Katz, this is not good enough.
He said, "Bills arrive on our desks on Fridays or Saturdays so that when we come
in Monday morning, they are ready to be voted on, but, with obligations in our
districts and with our families, it is nearly impossible for us to have the time we
need to read and digest each bill. Our staffs do a wonderful job, but even they are
tasked to rush through reading hundreds of pages of legal verse and translating
it into layman's terms."

He continued, "During budget negotiations, I can now understand why the

process is so slow. Once an agreement is made, it takes hours to physically print
the bills, obtain the message of necessity from the governor and by the time
the bill is ready to be voted on, it's 2 am or later, and lawmakers can barely see
straight. The people of New York deserve better."

Assemblyman Katz is looking to make the process more open by supporting

legislation, A.5274, which would allow bills to be "aged" electronically. He
commented, "This is a bipartisan issue. Assemblywoman Sandy Galef sponsors
this legislation and it's something I think every good legislator could support. We
are talking about opening up government and granting lawmakers and residents
faster, easier access to information, and improving the ability of lawmakers to
represent their constituents, as well as make choices on how to vote for bills."

"We must bring the process in line with today's technology. The decisions we
are making are too important. With advancements like Facebook and Twitter
and 24-hour news channels, residents expect to have access to information
at their fingertips. The government they are paying for should be held to the
same standards, and I will continue examining the process and working with my
colleagues to find common-sense solutions," concluded the assemblyman.

Assemblyman Katz is encouraging residents to contact his office with

their ideas or suggestions for improving government transparency and
access to information. Constituents can contact his office by e-mailing
katzs@assembly.state.ny.us, calling 845-279-5301, or writing to his temporary
office at 2392 Route 6, Brewster, New York10509.