Policy group finds state legislative committees weak

ALBANY — Citing weak committees, absence of debate or dissent, and frequent lack of sound fiscal analysis of legislation in 2006 and 2007, a study released Monday concluded that New York state’s legislative process “remains broken.”

The nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law said the state Legislature failed to measure up to lawmakers in California, Connecticut and Congress for openness and the process of government.

Instead, New York’s Senate and Assembly leaders “maintained a stranglehold on the flow of legislation at all stages of the legislative process.”