ALBANY – A state budget agreement that includes new ethics rules apparently means a pivotal constitutional question—can an executive-appointed panel of deputized agents subpoena client lists of lawyer-legislators—will go unanswered.
Last July, when the Legislature balked on ethics reform, Gov. Andrew Cuomo reacted by forming the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, or Moreland Commission. The commission issued a series of subpoenas demanding that attorney-lawmakers with more than $20,000 in income from clients provide detailed information on the source of the income.
