State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens)

Mothers, don’t let your children grow up to be New York State lawmakers.

The un-shocking news Tuesday that State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis) was arrested on bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy charges makes him the 14th state lawmaker and the third State Senate leader facing the wrong side of the law in the past five years.

“Elected officials are called public servants because they are supposed to serve the people,” FBI Assistant Director George Venizelos said after the arrest. “Public service is not supposed to be a shortcut to self-enrichment… At the very least, public officials should obey the law.”

Federal prosecutors accused Smith, a key Democratic member of the State Senate’s new bipartisan leadership, of using intermediaries—a cooperating witness and an FBI investigator posing as a political operative—to bribe Republican Party leaders into letting him run for New York City mayor on the GOP line. Also rounded up were Republican chairmen in Queens and the Bronx, as well as a city councilman, plus the Spring Valley mayor and his deputy—a scandal that rocked both the city and Albany.

“You pull this off,” Smith allegedly told the undercover agent last year, “you can have the house … I’ll be the tenant.” He is now denying the accusations.

Smith, the State Senate president during the Democrats’ 2008-2010 majority, was stripped Tuesday of his chairmanship of the Independent Democratic Conference—five Democratic senators that split from the rest—that joined with Republicans this winter to form a rare leadership coalition.

“The allegations outlined today involving Malcolm Smith are extremely troubling,” Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), the chamber’s co-leader, said in a statement. “I concur with the swift decision made by Independent Democratic Leader Jeff Klein to strip him of his committee assignments and his conference leadership position.”

Skelos, who was the majority leader until the Republicans lost control of the State Senate in the November elections, succeeded Pedro Espada Jr., a former Democratic senate majority leader from the Bronx and ex-GOP senate majority leader Joe Bruno from upstate—both of whom were also charged federally.

Espada is awaiting sentencing after pleaded guilty to tax fraud in October and being convicted last May of stealing from a Bronx nonprofit he ran. Bruno is facing retrial after appealing his wire fraud conviction.

Shirley Huntley, a former Democratic state senator from Queens, pleaded guilty in Nassau County court two months ago to charges related to covering up her theft of taxpayer money from a nonprofit. She faces up to two years in prison when she’s sentenced Thursday in a related case.

Hiram Monserrate, a disgraced Democratic state senator from Queens, was sentenced in December to two years in prison for misusing $100,000 in taxpayer funds for his campaign. He had joined with Espada in a 2009 Senate coup and was expelled from the senate in 2010 after being convicted of assaulting his girlfriend.

Carl Kruger, an ex-Democratic state senator from Brooklyn, was also sentenced last year to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to taking $1 million in bribes from health care officials and a lobbyist.

Last summer saw retired Republican state senator Nicholas Spano of Yonkers, who was unseated seven years ago, be sentenced to more than a year in prison for tax evasion.

A year prior, State Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn) was convicted of misdemeanor criminal mischief for attacking a New York Post photographer. He was re-elected in November, but was stripped of his then-title of majority whip.

Disgraced Democratic State Comptroller Alan Hevesi was also sentenced to 1-4 years in prison in 2011 for a pay-to-play scheme involving the state pension fund. He had resigned in 2006 after being caught using state employees to care for his sick wife. He was released from prison in December after serving 20 months.

In 2010, Efrain Gonzalez, another former Democratic state senator from the Bronx, was sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing more than $700,000 from two charities.

And in 2009 in the lower chamber, Assemb. Brian McLaughlin, another Democrat from Queens, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after the former labor leader had pleaded guilty to racketeering charges.

Perhaps the biggest corruption scandal in recent memory came five years ago when then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer abruptly resigned after investigators found he was paying prostitutes for sex. He was never charged.

More recently, Assemb. Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn) has refused calls to resign last year after former female staffers made sexual harassment accusations that resulted in Lopez being stripped of his title of Brooklyn Democratic chairman.

Although the Smith case doesn’t directly affect Long Island, it does hit close to home—his senate district abuts the Nassau-Queens line, as does the city council district of his alleged accomplice, Daniel Halloran. The councilman’s quotes allegedly caught on tape epitomized New York’s crime wave of political corruption.

“That’s politics, it’s all about how much,” Halloran told the undercover agent while discussing his need to raise money for his congressional campaign, according to the FBI. “Not whether or will, it’s about how much, and that’s our politicians in New York, they’re all like that….And they get like that because of the drive that the money does for everything else. You can’t do anything without the fucking money.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave his State of the State address in Albany on Wednesday.

The gun control debate got a shot in the arm this week when a school shooting broke out during a White House task force meeting on the issue the day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged New York to pass the nation’s toughest firearms regulations.

Proposed re-enactment of the federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that expired in 2004 is at the forefront of the current debate. But pro-gun lobbyists shot down such regulations as an infringement of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Emotions continue to run high on both sides.

“There has got to be some common ground, to not solve every problem but diminish the probability” of future mass shootings, Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday. “That’s what this is all about.”

Biden was meeting with a group of hunting organizations when a 16-year-old armed with a shotgun critically wounded a fellow student in a California high school. The task force was formed after a gunman massacred 20 school children and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. last month.

The National Rifle Association, whose leader has proposed armed guards in every school—although in the latest case, the school’s armed guard was snowed in at home—characterized the meeting as “disappointing” and said it will work with Congress instead.

“No one hunts with an assault rifle,” Cuomo said Wednesday while unveiling his gun-control package. “No one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer. And too many innocent people have died already. End the madness now!”

He proposed banning gun clips manufactured before 1994 that hold more than 10 bullets—hardware used by the Newtown gunman and other mass murderers—modernizing the pistol permitting process to ensure felons and others barred from owning handguns don’t fall through the cracks.

Cuomo also gave a nod to the NRA and conservatives such as state Senate Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), who have suggested the gun control conversation falls short without addressing mental health and stricter punishments.

“There is no doubt that illegal guns are a major threat to public safety—but it is not the only one,” Skelos said after Cuomo laid out his plans in his State of the State address. “More frequently we are reading about crimes committed by people with a history of mental illness who may not be getting the treatment they need.”

The governor’s package includes enhanced sentencing guidelines for those convicted of using illegal guns, which mirrors a series of proposals Skelos unveiled last week. Cuomo also plans to propose measures to ensure mental health professionals alert authorities when they become aware a gun owner is likely to cause harm.

In addition, he also wants to close a loophole that allows private gun owners to sell guns to others without the buyer being subject to the background checks they would face when making a purchase from a licensed gun dealer.

On the federal level, New York Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are calling on Biden to include measures to crackdown on illegal guns and strengthen background checks into his final recommendations.

The senators are pushing bills mandating that states share records on felons, drug abusers and those seriously mentally ill to be used in background checks for gun buyers. They also are pushing a bill cracking down on trafficking firearms into New York.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) is also reintroducing her legislation to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines for guns—a bill that is likely to be part of the Newtown task force’s recommendations Tuesday to President Obama.

McCarthy has devoted her political career to combating gun violence after her husband was murdered and son critically injured during the 1993 Long Island Railroad massacre. Rep. Diana Degette (D-Colo), whose district includes the infamous Columbine High School and is adjacent to Aurora—where a gunman murdered 12 people and wounded nearly 60 others at a movie theater last summer—is cosponsoring the legislation.

“These devices are used to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time possible and we owe it to innocent Americans everywhere to keep them out of the hands of dangerous people,” said McCarthy. “We don’t even allow hunters to use them—something’s deeply wrong if we’re protecting game more than we’re protecting innocent human beings.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave his State of the State address in Albany on Wednesday.

In his third State of the State address, delivered with much enthusiasm in Albany on Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he wants to nix the Long Island Power Authority and touted a slew of proposals on gun control, women’s equality and decriminalizing marijuana possession.

Halfway through his first term, the governor challenged legislative leaders to pass those and other less-controversial parts of his 2013 agenda while he gave full vent to his criticism of Congress for delaying passage of $60 billion in Superstorm Sandy aid.

“This is an unprecedented situation in modern times where the federal government has not been responsive in the face of disaster,” Cuomo said, noting that in the 73 days since the catastrophic storm only $9 billion of the package has been approved. “That is not acceptable.”

Although Cuomo has no control over Congress, he suggested that the state could make reforms this year in education, storm preparation and campaign financing. He also promised to maintain his focus on New York’s economic development—an area that’s helped his 70-percent approval rating.

LI came up only in reference to Sandy—both Nassau and Suffolk county executives got shout outs along with Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford)—and the complications the Island faces during its recovery process.

Referring to LIPA, which faced harsh criticism for the extensive post-storm blackouts, he said: “It’s never worked, it never will, the time has come to abolish LIPA. Period.” The governor did not say what should replace it—the entity was created by his father Mario when he was governor—but did say the state Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, would need more oversight authority.

On the issue of rebuilding shorefront homes damaged in the superstorm, Cuomo proposed a buyout program for those living in areas prone to flooding. For those who prefer to stay, he urged storm hardening.

“Instead of just rebuilding a home, I’d rather pay more and put a house on pilings today than build that house three times,” he said.

Cuomo also proposed improving public alert systems before the next storm as well as establishing a state-level strategic fuel reserve to stave off another potential gas crisis.

The governor was most forceful on the topic of women’s rights and gun control. He insisted that the state approve banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines in addition to increased sentencing guidelines for users of illegal guns in the wake of the Newtown massacre.

“Forget the extremists,” Cuomo said with rising passion in his hour-long speech. “It’s simple. No one hunts with an assault rifle. No one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer. And too many innocent people have died already.” His remarks were greeted with thunderous approval in the legislative hall.

He was equally adamant when proposing his women’s equality plan for pay equality, strengthening domestic violence laws, stopping workplace sexual harassment and protecting a woman’s right to choose—possibly the only issue as emotional as gun control.

“Because it’s her body, it’s her choice,” he yelled three times in a row. “We passed marriage equality. Let’s make history again and pass women’s equality in the state of New York!”

Cuomo’s proposal to reduce the public view of 15 grams of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a violation is aimed at reducing the disproportionate number of minorities charged with possession during the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk program in the five boroughs.

“It’s not fair, it’s not right, it must end and it must end now,” he said while reintroducing an idea that died in the state Senate last year. Senate Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) blocked the bill when he was majority leader but now that the Skelos has a power-sharing agreement with Senate Democrats, Cuomo might have a better chance at getting his way.

Among the other notable proposals the governor rattled off were raising the minimum wage to $8.75, creating a statewide network of electric car charging stations and videotaping confessions for those charged with violent crimes and sex offences.

The governor got a few laughs while promoting upstate whitewater rafting by touting a new Adirondack Challenge event with a display of legislative leaders and himself Photo-shopped riding in rafts. He closed by praising the community spirit that sprung from Sandy’s destruction.

“In our darkest moment we shine the brightest,” Cuomo said. “New York State is rising because it’s more unified than ever before.”

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