Gov. Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders were scheduled Wednesday to announce their agreement on sweeping changes in ethics enforcement, including banning gifts to lawmakers, according to two people familiar with the deal.
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The agreement calls for a new and far-reaching agency that would enforce rules governing lobbyists and employees in the executive branch. The agreement also calls for a revamped Legislative Ethics Committee, which has been criticized by good-government groups as ineffective and secretive in handling complaints against colleagues. The new Legislative Ethics Committee would have four lawmakers and would now include four members who aren't in the Legislature. All would be appointed by legislative leaders.
The new ethics agency for lobbying and executive branch employees would include 13 members, seven of whom would be appointed by the governor.
The deal would end the lobbying commission as an independent entity, which government watchdogs including the New York Public Interest Research Group and Commmon Cause-New York have called Albany's most effective ethics enforcer.
Existing ethics laws have been criticized as weak and contributing to a capitol culture called unseemly and even corrupt.
