A secretive group of Senate Democrats quietly determined the fate of nearly 650 bills in the past month. Just don't expect any explanations.
Early Tuesday morning, a select group of state senators quietly made their way into the office of Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, located on the fourth floor of the state capitol building in Albany. They were gathering for a meeting of the Senate's Working Rules group—a committee so secretive that many of their colleagues were unaware of its existence until it was revealed by New York Focus last week.
This all-Democrat group convenes a series of meetings toward the end of each legislative session to review hundreds of pending bills and provide recommendations to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on which bills should be advanced.
This year, the Working Rules group reviewed legislation on several key issues, including a formal assessment of the state’s Covid-19 response, streamlining the permitting process for new housing, establishing a public bank in Rochester, and reducing car dependency statewide. These proposals, among nearly 650 bills considered by the group over the past month, have not yet reached the Senate floor.
As is often the case, Tuesday’s meeting was held without public notice. However, New York Focus was tipped off by a source about its time and location.
When a reporter was spotted standing in the hallway outside Senator Gianaris’s office, a Senate staffer locked the door, temporarily barring entry for several senators who arrived late.
Two hours later, a New York Focus reporter entered the office and inquired if the Working Rules meeting was still underway. Gianaris emerged from a side room and quipped, “What Working Rules?”
Last week, New York Focus reported on a list created by a Senate source detailing more than 600 bills reviewed by the Working Rules committee last year, along with the identities of a dozen members who were part of the group at that time.
Since then, New York Focus has acquired the agendas for this year’s Working Rules meetings. While the full membership for this year's group remains unclear, senators observed entering or leaving the meeting on Tuesday morning included Jamaal Bailey, Neil Breslin, Liz Krueger, Shelley Mayer, Sean Ryan, Jose Serrano, James Skoufis, Toby Stavisky, and Gianaris.
Supporters of the Working Rules committee argue that it serves as a necessary filter for managing the vast number of pending bills in the final weeks of the legislative session. Critics, however, agree that narrowing down the list of bills is essential but contend that doing so behind closed doors prevents public accountability and limits opportunities for citizens to influence their representatives.
Advocates and some senators often remain uninformed as the Working Rules committee determines the fate of their proposals.
For example, Senator Jabari Brisport was unaware that a bill he sponsors—aimed at banning New York from funding institutions that use electro-shock treatment and similar methods on humans—was on the Working Rules agenda last week. He only learned about it from a New York Focus reporter on Tuesday.
"I thought it was dead for the year," Brisport said. Had he known it was still in play, he "would have organized more around it."
"I would have reached out to people on Working Rules ahead of the meeting," he added.
However, that might have been a challenge: Brisport mentioned he wasn't entirely sure who was on the committee, except for Gianaris.
Senator Luis Sepúlveda, on the other hand, was aware that his bill to allow emergency medical responders to provide first aid to dogs and cats was being considered by Working Rules. Despite it being a top priority, he chose not to lobby the group’s members.
"I had to push to get it on the Working Rules agenda. So Working Rules will decide now," he said. "I have to give them a certain level of respect. They already know how I feel."
Several advocates said they were either unaware that the Working Rules committee was considering bills they support or that the committee even existed.
Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society, has been advocating for a bill to prevent New York State-owned hospitals from suing patients for unpaid medical debt—many of whom are low-income and qualify for financial aid. That bill was on the Working Rules agenda for May 27.
"If I had known this group existed, I would have been reaching out to them," she said.
Since New York Focus reported on the group last week, several senators have defended its importance. One such defender is Working Rules group member Liz Krueger, who has refused multiple requests from New York Focus for an interview but told Politico that the group's method and diversity reflect “the terrific leadership of Andrea Stewart-Cousins.”
Before Democrats gained control of the Senate in 2019, Krueger was a vocal critic of the Senate's secretive practices. In a 2002 report, shortly after she took office, she criticized the practice of shutting down regular Senate committees a few weeks before the end of the legislative session—when Working Rules typically takes over—arguing that it “completely undermines any possibility of committee debate” and called for an end to this practice.
In a 2009 press release, Krueger expressed her frustration with the Senate's antidemocratic and secretive practices, stating, “When I got to Albany, I was appalled by the antidemocratic, secretive practices I found and knew the Senate needed change.”
This week, Krueger did not respond to questions from New York Focus about why the Working Rules group's membership, deliberations, and conclusions must remain secret from the public and other senators.
Senator Julia Salazar, when asked the same question, affirmed her belief in transparency in the legislative process but also acknowledged the rationale behind the current approach. She explained that the Working Rules group's purpose is to streamline the hectic end-of-session period, noting that “it would be less efficient if they were constantly bombarded by everyone, including other members.”
Salazar emphasized that senators need to be aware of internal processes impacting their bills, suggesting that this aligns with the Majority Leader’s intent and is not about deliberately hiding information from senators.
New York Focus’s coverage of Working Rules has evidently upset Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins’ spokesperson, Michael Murphy. Murphy has been criticized for providing inaccurate information about the group to both New York Focus and Politico, and has directed numerous profanities towards New York Focus.
When New York Focus first contacted Murphy in May for comments on Working Rules, he repeatedly claimed that all bills reviewed by the group were discussed by the full Senate Democratic conference. However, in reality, bills that fail in Working Rules often do not proceed further. After New York Focus pressed for clarification, Murphy revised his statement, now asserting that only bills approved by Working Rules are reviewed by the full conference, claiming this was his original position.
Murphy then unleashed a tirade during a phone call, referring to a New York Focus reporter as a “clown” and a “fucking hack,” and furiously criticized the reporter’s questioning of his statement.
“I gave you the statement and then you’re questioning it like, ‘I don’t know about this.’ Go fuck yourself. Don’t use the statement,” Murphy said, despite earning a $188,000 annual salary funded by taxpayers.
Last week, Murphy told Politico that the Working Rules committee only convenes for “about a week” annually at the end of the legislative session. However, agendas obtained by New York Focus reveal that Working Rules started meeting in mid-May for both this year and last, well before the legislative session concluded. This year, the meetings extended through at least June 4.
Murphy did not address the discrepancy when asked, and he has repeatedly avoided answering other inquiries from New York Focus about Working Rules, including the current membership of the group.
Under the Republican majority in the Senate, which lasted until 2019, Working Rules was more transparent. Senator Patrick Gallivan, a Republican first elected in 2010, noted, “It wasn’t a secret. We knew who the members were. Even in my very first year, I was aware of Working Rules and knew to approach committee members to advance my bills.”
Republican Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt, who began his term in 2015, explained that each Republican Senator was assigned to a Working Rules member to advocate for their priorities. “If you were on Working Rules, it was your job to communicate with those members and find out what bills they needed,” Ortt said. The Working Rules members would then work to advance those bills in committee meetings.
Murphy, the spokesperson for Stewarts-Cousin, dismissed this historical context. “I do not know how the Republicans ran their conference, but I do know that we have passed more laws through this house than the Republicans ever did,” he said.