Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) was voted as the new speaker of the NY State Assembly on Feb. 3, 2015, replacing the embattled Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan).
ALBANY – The new leader of the New York state Assembly is promising to focus on ethics and integrity.
On Tuesday, members of the assembly overwhelmingly voted to approve Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) as the new speaker, replacing a lawmaker whose two-decade reign ended with federal corruption charges. Democrats hold a more than two-thirds majority in the chamber, and Heastie easily won the post over Republican Minority Leader Brian Kolb.
Following the vote, Heastie vowed to create a new office of ethics compliance and take other steps to clean up Albany’s tradition of corruption and backroom dealing.
Former speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) is charged with taking nearly $4 million in payoffs and kickbacks.
Heastie outlined his reform proposal even before officially taking over as speaker. Besides calling for a new Office of Ethics and Compliance, he also called for new limits on how much outside income lawmakers can earn, and greater reporting of outside income and legislative stipends. He also said he would look for ways to decentralize Assembly power so rank-and-file lawmakers have more input.
The 47-year-old Heastie was first elected in 2000 and has led the Assembly’s Labor Committee for the past two years. He is a former budget analyst in the New York City Comptroller’s Office. He also leads the Bronx Democratic County Committee, a post he has said he will leave now that he is speaker.
He is the first African-American to hold the position of New York State Assembly Speaker.
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