So this is how democracy dies: with a cowardly surrender of responsibility, a censure of anyone not in a legislative supermajority and a feeble sigh of resignation.
Too harsh? Good.
It was a virtual one-two punch to our old friend democracy, and it’s every single New Yorker who will feel the full force of the blows. In just one week, the Independent Redistricting Commission abdicated its voter-mandated constitutional duty to provide fair, independent redistricting maps; the Assembly limited the terms of and opportunity for debate in the state’s lower chamber; and then it doubled down by placing arbitrary limits on citizens’ rights to participate in our own government.
Each of these actions alone is enough to draw outrage, but taken together, this feels like a throw-some-tea-in-the-harbor kind of moment.
For too long decennial redistricting in New York was riddled with politically favorable gerrymandering, and so in 2014 we entrusted the Independent Redistricting Commission — a new bipartisan, independent committee — to handle it. We were so serious about this that we put it in the state Constitution. For a moment, there was cautious optimism.
Then political reality set in.
Any hope of nonpartisan redistricting came to a screeching halt last week when the commission threw up its hands, unable to agree on a time to meet, let alone a fair path forward.
Republican and Democratic commission members pointed fingers at one another, but one thing is certain: The IRC’s refusal to complete its constitutional responsibility represents nothing less than a dereliction of duty. New Yorkers should be furious, if not surprised, by their government’s complete inability to put the people first.
Because the Democrats already have supermajorities in both chambers in the Legislature, there’s almost nothing to stand in the way of them gerrymandering our state into an unrecognizable, undemocratic nightmare. And we would be naïve to think this scenario isn’t exactly what the Legislature has been dreaming of since Day One.
But why stop at chasing opponents off the political field when you can limit their speech inside the Capitol as well? That’s exactly what a new rules change will do, limiting debate on any bill to four hours, with one 15-minute period for each lawmaker who wishes to speak.
This rule doesn’t just threaten members of the opposition but anyone seeking to testify on a budget issue. Organizations on the political right and left and every single New Yorker have just had their fundamental right to petition their government limited.
Gov. Kathy Hochul promised to create a more open and transparent government. This can’t be what she had in mind. The IRC’s abdication of its redistricting duties undermines her efforts to reform a corrupt state. The Legislature’s rule changes make that corruption laughably obvious.
Is it hopeless? No, not yet. Democracy is government by the people, and it only dies if we let it. So stand up, New York! The match isn’t over; it’s only the second round.
*story by The New York Post
