S619

The New York State Senate passed legislation Tuesday to reduce the New York City Board of Elections from 10 commissioners to 2, a move aimed at streamlining the agency and ending years of publicized scandals. The bill, S619, sponsored by Sen. Krueger, passed 41-20 on a largely party-line vote. Krueger argued that the current structure creates inefficiency and infighting, and that New York City should operate under a two-commissioner model like other counties in the state, since the city functions as one municipality with unified election laws. "We don't have 10 commissioners of our fire department or our school system or our health department, and it just isn't working," Krueger said. However, opponents, led by Sen. Lanza, contended the bill would eliminate representation for multiple boroughs on the board and concentrate power in two individuals. Lanza warned that at least three of the five NYC boroughs would lose representation entirely. "The idea that four of the largest counties in all of New York State would potentially not have representation on the Board of Elections is really the opposite of what we ought to be doing in terms of fairness, transparency, accountability," Lanza said. Sen. Stec also opposed the measure, noting it creates inconsistency with state policy requiring full-time commissioners in every county. The bill now moves to the Assembly.