Reform. It has been talked about for a long time now, but until recently has been little more than rhetorical conversation among a few of us.

Today marked another occasion of reform slowly trickling into State Government, when Governor Spitzer and the legislature undertook the necessary first steps on much needed ethics reform. The reforms unveiled include, among other measures, creating a stronger ethics commission with oversight over the executive and legislative branches.

Until now, the ethics commission for the Legislature has been made up solely of legislators self-policing colleagues. The new commission will be split between legislators and non-legislators. The State Ethics and Lobbying Commissions will also be reorganized and strengthened with increased oversight authority.

Ethics reform is key to an open and transparent State government. It is very important that voters have faith in the system, and trust that we will hold ourselves to the highest standards. Strengthening the ethics commission will ensure there is a watch-dog with the political and functional will to fulfill its mission.

Many parts of today's package stemmed from legislation I championed in the Senate, including closure of the "revolving door" lobbying loophole, a ban on legislators accepting honoraria, as well as a gift ban for legislators and their staff.

In 2006 I proposed S6467 which would have closed the "revolving door" lobbying loophole that allows legislative staffers to retire and immediately become powerful paid lobbyists. The current law states that legislators must wait two years before lobbying the Legislature, but until now their former staff members have been allowed to roam the Capitol halls, using connections made during time as legislative employees, to advance their new employer's agenda.

People were able to leave the Capitol as a legislative staffer one day and return the next as a lobbyist. Many companies certainly exploited the personal relationships that former staffers developed through day to day interaction, for their own advantage.

In 2005, 2006 and again earlier this month, my Democratic Senate colleagues proposed Senate rules changes that would have banned legislators from receiving gifts from lobbyists—known as the "gift ban." At the time, Majority Leader Joe Bruno stated his support for this ban, yet refused to allow the proposal to advance for a debate and recorded vote in the senate.

I'm glad Senator Bruno has come around to our point of view. However, the gift ban is representative of why reform cannot succeed if done little by little. For instance, New York 's laws defining how legislators may spend campaign monies are among the most lax in the nation. Therefore, a tit for tat arrangement circumvents the gift ban—I'll buy dinner, you donate to my campaign fund.

In 2006 I proposed S6704 that would ban paid honoraria that State employees and legislators may currently accept. I am very happy this part of today's package.

Governor Spitzer has shown a willingness to challenge the status quo, and the voters are clearly behind him. It will be tempting for some legislators to run to their constituents and say 'Look! Look! We're Reformers!' But the job is nowhere near done.

Personally, I sponsor more than two dozen reform proposals that remain stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Among these proposals is S1678, which would bring clarity to how political candidates can spend campaign monies prior to and while in elected office, as well as the elimination of pensions for elected officials who have been convicted of a felony related to their elected position.

Today's package is a down-payment on ethics reform. We need comprehensive reform that includes ethics, campaign finance, budget and legislative rules measures, not just bits and pieces of each. I also wonder why we didn't bring the public into the room to share their views and comment on proposals.

Fixing our state's government is a bit like being in a 12 step program. Maybe Governor Spitzer's new theme should be "one day at a time." This is a good start—but only a start.