Incredibly, the arrests this year of both Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos have done nothing to reduce the culture that breeds corruption in Albany.
It’s still all about money in the Legislature — and newly installed Senate boss John Flanagan is determined to continue monetizing the power of his Republican conference members. Boy, do they love pay-to-play.
Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, stands accused of using his muscle to exact fake legal fees out of favor-seeking real estate developers — one of which was Glenwood Management, a major New York City landlord and developer.
Skelos, a Long Island Republican, is charged with putting the arm on firms lobbying the Senate — chief among them, Glenwood Management — to funnel money to his son. (It was further revealed this week that the younger Skelos allegedly received $100,000 through a no-show job with a medical liability insurer.)
At the same time, Silver, Skelos, Gov. Cuomo and many others in Albany were raising mountains of cash through a legal loophole that allows limited liability companies, or LLCs, to contribute virtually unlimited amounts.
Guess who the No. 1 exploiter of that loophole has been, to the tune of $13 million over 15 years? Glenwood Management.
Turning off this unsavory gusher is a simple matter of clarifying that LLCs should be treated as the corporations they are, with donations capped at $5,000 per year.
But Flanagan has stonewalled this no-brainer reform — even as some senators complained to Daily News Albany Bureau Chief Kenneth Lovett that they’re terrified of tackling issues that affect Glenwood, such as rent regulations due to expire next month, for fear that they, too, could end up indicted by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last week included closing the LLC loophole on a list of reforms that, taken together, are too much to tackle in the waning days of a legislative session.
But, because the Assembly has passed an LLC fix, Flanagan can easily end this ridiculous outrage. Fat chance.
When Brooklyn Democratic Sen. Daniel Squadron sought to force a vote on LLC reform in one committee, Flanagan’s GOP directed the bill to another. When Squadron sought to organize a petition to break the logjam, a clerk answerable to Flanagan denied him the necessary paperwork.
Meet the new Senate boss, Enemy of Reform No. 1.
![In a narrow vote this week, the Federal Trade Commission approved a rule that will ban the vast majority of noncompete clauses by U.S. employers, which have long prevented workers from switching jobs or setting out on their own. In doing so, the agency did its duty to protect American economic dynamism and opportunity, nothing less, nothing more. We hope that’s the clear conclusion of the courts that will now rule on a lawsuit being brought by the Chamber of Commerce, which has strenuously supported this anticompetitive practice. Of the arguments that the business group and other opponents have rolled […]](https://www.nydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-1820955015.jpg?w=490 "In a narrow vote this week, the Federal Trade Commission approved a rule that will ban the vast majority of noncompete clauses by U.S. employers, which have long prevented workers from switching jobs or setting out on their own. In doing so, the agency did its duty to protect American economic dynamism and opportunity, nothing less, nothing more. We hope that’s the clear conclusion of the courts that will now rule on a lawsuit being brought by the Chamber of Commerce, which has strenuously supported this anticompetitive practice. Of the arguments that the business group and other opponents have rolled […]")
