The Brennan Center has posted a memorandum in support of legislation to count prison inmates where they are from rather than their prison location for the purpose of legislative redistricting. As they point out, the distortions caused are not just at the state level, but also at the county level, giving legislative districts with prison populations a disproportionately more power than those without.

How bad must it get for an 85-year-old former mayor of the City of New York - not an easy job, that - to leave retirement and start rattling the cage?

Pretty bad.

The following is an op-ed that went out by email to the mayor's list.

The New York Uprising Begins

Last Friday, at the New York City offices of my law firm, Bryan Cave LLP, for a group of us, the New York Uprising began. A hundred men and women came together to commit themselves to the overhaul of the New York State legislature, which the Brennan Center for Justice appropriately called "dysfunctional" six years ago, and which has alarmingly deteriorated since.The legislature in Albany is an abysmal failure and a disgrace to the Empire State.

The New York Uprising was convened by Dick Dadey of the Citizens Union, Henry Stern of New York Civic and myself. The purpose for the meeting was a brainstorming session aimed at developing a strategy for reforming the state legislature, both the Assembly and Senate.

Compounding New York's government problem is its non-functional governor who is beset with allegations that he may have committed a crime by swearing falsely before the New York State Commission on Public Integrity, as well as allegations of possible obstruction of justice now being investigated by the New York State Attorney General. The latter recused himself from the investigation -- he is a perceived candidate for the office of governor in the November election -- and selected Judith Kaye, retired Chief Justice of the New York Court of Appeals, to oversee the investigation by the Attorney General's staff.

Attending the March 12th meeting were Frank Baraff and Brian Keeler, leaders of a coalition of New Yorkers called Reboot New York, who are organizing upstate and Long Island citizens to push for reform in Albany. Other citizen-based organizations are being established around the city and state, including Unshackle Upstate, headed by Brian Sampson, as well as various reform-minded groups of business people. Five respected good government groups - the Brennan Center for Justice, Citizens Union, Common Cause NY, League of Women Voters/NYS and N.Y. Public Interest Research Group - have organized to address Albany reform. The Westchester County Association, led by former Lieutenant Governor Al Del Bello and Bill Mooney, is taking up the effort in Westchester.

Here's what Andrew Rudnick, head of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, has to say about a new PAC he's helping to set up:

It’s not really a Democrat or Republican thing; it’s an upstate-downstate thing

That must be why this PAC is dedicated only to electing Republicans to the state Senate and little else. It also must be why the PAC has teamed up with similar chambers of commerce from such upstate locales as Long Island, Westchester County, and the mid-Hudson Valley.

Politico:

In [...] New York, where various state legislators have been embroiled in scandals, a new Marist College poll indicates that just 16 percent of voters believe the state Senate is doing an excellent or good job, while 82 percent rated it as fair or poor.

In the state Assembly, which hasn’t been in the same throes of scandal and chaos as the state Senate, the numbers aren’t much different: 17 percent said the Assembly is doing an excellent or good job, while 80 percent said the job was fair or poor.

It seems in tough times, when no one thinks the folks now in the Senate aren't doing a great job, incumbents are having trouble raising campaign cash.

"They are relentless in their calling lobbyists this year, mainly the Democrats in the Senate, and it's unbelievable," a prominent lobbyist with strong Democratic ties told The Post yesterday.

"None of us has ever seen anything like it." A lobbyist with strong GOP connections said legislators "are all crazed because they're scared of running this year and not having the funds they think they need to do it."

Gee. I wonder why. And if they are re-elected, who will be their masters? It won't be the people, that's for sure...unless we raise some money ourselves and take out a good number of them.

This video will give you 61 reasons why.

It's been a sorry few weeks for New York State. Between the implosion of David Paterson's governorship, Joe Bruno's fraud conviction, Congressman Rangel's departure from the chair of Ways and Means, Eric Massa's announced retirement, and the looming specter of a return of Hiram Monserrate to the Senate, many New Yorkers question whether the problems of the state are more fundamental than perhaps once thought.

Via Liz, here's a direct quote from Senator Eric Adams that supports the exact point that RebootNY is making about the State Senate.

"I have a news flash: I don’t know many elected officials that don’t have a credibility problem. And if that becomes a criteria on who can sit in office and who can’t, than we’re in trouble."

Well, Eric, I have a news flash: Credibility SHOULD be a criteria of who can sit in office and who can't...so what does that mean about office holders? They should be removed?

And, yes, Eric, we are in trouble.

Hat tip to an interesting piece by the New York Times for a thought provoking dialogue between academics, good government experts, and politicians on Friday.