By Ryan Morden
Oswego, NY – Gov. David Paterson plans to introduce what he calls a compromised ethics overhaul bill to the state Senate today.
However, the governor did not actually negotiate a compromise with lawmakers and said Democrats refused to meet and work out a deal.
Both the Senate and Assembly passed an ethics overhaul bill earlier this year, but Paterson vetoed the bill and said it was too weak.
Will Barclay, Oswego-Area Assembly Republican, said he does not understand why the governor did not at least sign the bill that passed both the houses and then work on bringing forward an alternative bill to work from.
"I don't really understand from a political prospective or a policy perspective why he vetoed the bill. I mean, we can always go back and revise the bill once it becomes law or add additional regulations to the ethics law," said Barclay.
Barclay is a cosponsor of the bill that Gov. Paterson vetoed.
Eric Schneiderman, New York City Senate Democrat, said he plans to introduce an alternative ethics overhaul Bill today.