Members of Citizens Union and Supporters of Citizens Union Foundation,
I write to inform you about a bold step taken today by Citizens Union to recommend a solution to end the chaos in Albany.
This morning in our state's capital, I was joined by Assemblyman Mike Gianaris and my colleague from Common Cause/NY, Susan Lerner, at a news conference at which we publicly released a letter we sent to the Governor outlining what we believe to be a legal way for him to appoint a lieutenant governor and break the partisan gridlock in the State Senate. The conventional wisdom has been that because state law does not specifically outline how a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor should be filled, no process exists. But upon further research, we have discovered a provision in state law that does in fact allow the governor to appoint a lieutenant governor.
Our letter contends that Section 43 of the Public Officers Law provides a means for the Governor to appoint a lieutenant governor which is not precluded by the Constitutional mandate that the temporary president of the senate shall perform the duties of the lieutenant governor during a vacancy. Public Officer Law Section 43 states " [i]f a vacancy shall occur, otherwise than by expiration of term, with no provision of law for filling the same, if the office be elective, the governor shall appoint a person to execute the duties thereof until the vacancy shall be filled by an election..."
You can read our letter to the Governor and the news release for a more detailed explanation.
This suggested approach should not be seen as conflicting with CU's earlier announced position that new state legislation should be passed giving the Governor the power to appoint a lieutenant governor who would be subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the senate and the assembly voting separately. We believe that a clear process to fill a lieutenant governor's vacancy is still needed, but support the Governor acting now to use current state law to appoint a lieutenant governor.
I want to thank Assemblyman Gianaris for initially raising this issue and working very closely with CU to finalize the position we released today. I also want to thank several members of the CU Board who assisted in our legal and constitutional analysis, especially Richard Briffault, a noted professor in state and local law at Columbia Law School, who also serves as vice chair of the Citizens Union Board of Directors, as well as CU Chair Peter Sherwin, and CU Board members John Avlon, Bob Kaufman and Alan Rothstein.
This action demonstrates the value of a civic group like Citizens Union whose members like you give us the support and involvement we need to do the work we do.
Thank you,
Dick Dadey
Executive Director