Local pols: Albany wastes too much paper

Vote on Ballot Proposal 2 Nov. 4

October 9, 2014 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Pols say Albany wastes too much paper. Photo by Paula Katinas

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Albany wastes too much paper, according to leaders of the Conservative Party, who are urging voters to approve an environmentally-friendly proposal on the Nov. 4 ballot aimed at reducing the glut of paper in the State Capitol.

New York State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long and Brooklyn Chairman Jerry Kassar are joining forces with Assembly member Nicole Malliotakis (R-C-Bay Ridge-Staten Island) to push for approval of Ballot Proposal 2 on Election Day. The three came together at the Conservative Party’s state headquarters in Bay Ridge on Tuesday to discuss the measure.

The proposal calls for the New York State Constitution to be amended to allow legislation to be voted on by lawmakers in Albany to be distributed electronically rather than printed on paper.

Under the constitution, bills to be voted on must be printed and placed on the desk of every legislator prior to the vote. There are 213 members of the senate and assembly combined. In addition, copies of the bills are also sent to the lawmakers’ offices and to the appropriate legislative committees.

And the bills are sometimes lengthy, Malliotakis said. A budget bill, for example, can be several hundred pages long.

“When I first got to the assembly four years ago, I couldn’t believe the amount of paper being wasted,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle. “When I saw this, I said, ‘This is absolutely ridiculous. It’s such a waste of the taxpayer’s money.’”

Besides, most legislators don’t even bother to read the printed versions of bills, according to Malliotakis, who said she and her colleagues prefer to use their smartphones or iPads to study the legislation. “We’re using up all of this paper and the bills aren’t being read on paper,” she said, adding that she has seen stacks and stacks of unread bills tied up in bundles and being tossed in the trash.

Kassar said the paper glut is enormous when you consider that there are approximately 12,000 bills introduced in the State Legislature each year. Of these, an estimated 2,000 actually make it to the floor of the state senate and assembly to be voted on by lawmakers. “We’re talking about a lot of paper,” he told the Eagle.

Allowing electronic dissemination of bills would save the state’s taxpayers an estimated $13 million a year, according to Kassar.

“It’s a common sense approach,” said Long. The insistence on using paper is an example of government waste, he said. “You’re looking at a wasteful allowance. The taxpayer’s pocket is being picked,” he said.

Proposal 2 will be located on the back of the ballot. Malliotakis, Kassar, and Long are urging voters to turn the ballot over and vote for the proposal after they have voted for the candidates of their choice on the front side.

The proposal appears to have widespread support. The League of Women Voters of New York State could not find any groups opposed to the measure, according to onyourballot.vote411.org.

The ballot referendum is the final step in a lengthy effort to amend the state’s constitution so that Albany can go paperless. An amendment to the constitution first requires approval by the legislature in two different sessions before the measure is put before the voters. The senate and assembly approved the amendment in 2012 and 2013.