New York's Attorney General is getting ready to propose some major changes to the way the state's $116.5 billion pension fund is managed. As Capital Tonight's Erin Billups reports, Thursday, Andrew Cuomo plans to unveil a bill that would change the structure of the fund, even though the man currently in charge isn't quite on board with the plan.
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NEW YORK STATE -- Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is the sole trustee of the state's pension fund, a position of considerable power. Power that, historically, has been abused. Now the Attorney General is calling for a new oversight structure.
"In my opinion, this is a fatally flawed system and it is a corrupted system," said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
A bill the AG is set to unveil this week provides for a 13-member board to supervise the pension fund. The comptroller would be the chairman. The governor, attorney general and four legislative leaders would each choose one member. It's an idea DiNapoli isn't opposed to.
"It's certainly a reasonably discussion," DiNapoli said.
The bill would also restrict campaign contributions from any business, their employees or family members, interested in a partnership with the fund and it would also prohibit third party agents of firms from doing business with the pension fund.
DiNapoli has already implemented both of those measures, along with several other reforms. He says a complete structural overhaul may not be the answer.
"If you don't have honest people there are going to be opportunity for corruption in either system," DiNapoli said.
And while DiNapoli says he's been running a tight, honest ship, it seems Cuomo could be suggesting otherwise.
"I also believe there has to be a legislative package to reform this comptroller's office, otherwise the abuses will continue. It's the system that's the problem and until the system changes, until the system is reformed, the abuse will continue," Cuomo said.
Still, DiNapoli isn't taking the AG's comments personally.
"I think a lot of thought has to go into this. I don't ascribe any motivation to anybody proposing it," said DiNapoli.
The comptroller says he still needs to see the specifics of Cuomo's panel proposal. There may be a legal question of whether it would simply take legislative and executive approval or the more arduous undertaking of a constitutional amendment. Either way, DiNapoli says his office is willing to discuss and debate the board proposal.
"I want people to know that whatever system we have, I'm going to make sure it's gonna work," DiNapoli said.
A spokesman for the Civil Service Employees Association says the comptroller's office has already been working on reforms to the pension fund, saying Cuomo's proposal is a distraction from more pressing issues. So far, though, it seems Senate democrats are in support of the bill.