Sentences with phrase «be citizen legislators»

The founders of our country intended for elected officials to be citizen legislators, serving a short period of time than returning to our homes to work.

Not exact matches

More generally, citizens need to be more involved in the choices our legislators make on our behalf.

Even if these families had the means, suing wouldn't be worth the legal fees because state legislators passed a law barring citizens from winning compensation for damages related to health, quality of life, enjoyment of property, or lost income caused by factory farms.

Senator Johnson has been in some hot water with constituents and local media lately for failing to answer citizens» calls to hold listening sessions or meet with them, as other legislators around the country have.

Now, state legislators are considering making medical marijuana available to their own citizens.

«The tweets, all the behaviors that have been called into question over the last year among legislators, citizens, etc..

With courts increasingly willing to nullify popular legislation and proclaim new rights, legislators are encouraged to avoid their responsibility for tackling controversial issues; interest groups are encouraged to take their cases to the courts rather than to try to persuade their fellow citizens; and citizens get the feeling that they have no say in setting the conditions under which they live, work, and raise their children.

When an ordinance is passed in your local state (California, in my case), do you think the legislators intend its citizens to understand the words of the regulations «in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory, free from exaggeration or distortion»?

«'' Bob Turner is the definition of a citizen legislator who took his lifelong business experience to Washington,» said Giuliani

Bob Turner is a businessman — a true citizen legislator.

All of these very clearly highlight an issue raised in Sir Berners - Lee's quote above — that policy makers and legislators struggle to understand how the web works and how it can be «controlled», while reflecting very little about whether the outcomes will infringe on the civil rights of citizens.

During remarks delivered at a forum hosted by the nonpartisan good government group Citizens Union, the Attorney General outlined what he believes is required to help «cure the disease» of public corruption, including a total ban on outside employment income for legislators, an end to per diems, rules reform to empower individual legislators, and a constitutional amendment to extend legislators» terms from two to four years.

(Albany, NY)-- One day after being appointed Ranking Democratic Member of the New York State Senate Elections Committee, Senator Brian Kavanagh today joined with fellow legislators and advocates — including the Brennan Center for Justice, Citizen Action of New York, Citizens Union, Common Cause / NY, the League of Women Voters of New York State, the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), Planned Parenthood, and Transportation Workers United Local 100 and colleagues in the Senate to urge Governor Andrew Cuomo to fully fund early voting in the Fiscal 2018 - 2019 Executive Budget.

Usually, governors have released their spending plans the morning of the day they are due, giving everyone — legislators, reporters and citizens — time to at least skim the document and make a start on digesting and debating it.

«By definition, these regional addressees are designed to communicate directly with the citizens of New York, not legislators,» Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said in a statement.

This would allow legislators, the public and media to weigh - in on the appropriateness of these allocations before the budget is passed to better engage citizens in this representative democracy.

It is certainly not an illustration of courage or leadership on the part of the council members, legislators, mayor or county executive, who have joined in the chorus of racist and incompetent Board of Ed members seeking my removal, so as to push back on me to not disclose their culpability in rigging the recent teacher's contract, or their complicity in trying to unfairly settling the Board's $ 450 million lawsuit against Lou Ciminelli, for fleecing the citizens and children of Buffalo.

«It is certainly not an illustration of courage or leadership on the part of the council members, legislators, mayor or county executive, who have joined in the chorus of racist and incompetent Board of Ed members seeking my removal, so as to push back on me to not disclose their culpability in rigging the recent teacher's contract, or their complicity in trying to unfairly settling the board's $ 450 million lawsuit against (developer) Lou Ciminelli for fleecing the citizens and children of Buffalo.

«As citizens meet Mr. Gieseke and see his leadership skills, they will find him to be a high caliber candidate that can serve the District well and has the experience to bring legislators together to solve problems.»

«It's virtually impossible for someone to serve in this citizen - legislator model and not have some form of conflict.»

There is no formal initiative - and - referendum option for citizens under state law, but the petition drive could seek support from legislators to repeal the measure.

«Because the Constitution speaks to a citizen Legislature, and a part - time Legislature, and there are a lot of people who don't want full - time legislators, and they don't want full - time politicians.

Special committees may be comprised of citizens who are not legislators.

[8] Those are the most citizens per legislator in the country.

After less than three months, Albany Legislator Gary Domalewicz may be about to lose his new role as majority leader as a push is under way for legislators to build up resources to make them more responsive to county citizens.

The NYT: «New York lawmakers are balking at a bill submitted by (Cuomo) to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18... But legislators in Louisiana, which imprisons the most citizens per capita and has the worst record in the country for meting out life sentences to adolescents, are giving a similar bill a warm, bipartisan reception.»

In November's general election, citizens would vote to choose a new legislator who would be seated in January, unless the state Legislature decided to seat the winning candidates earlier.

So while tens of thousands of New Yorkers go to their cabinets tonight looking for food to put on the table for their kids, and while tens of thousands of senior citizens by pass dinner tonight so that they may have enough left from their social security checks to pay for the December heating bill, our esteemed legislators, who least we forget have been awarded the distinction of being the most dysfunctional legislative body in the nation, feast and toast themselves in the capital city's Crown Plaza.

Citizens Union director Dick Dadey said the huge pots of similar «lump sum» funds that legislators can tap without scrutiny is an invitation for more corruption.

It's a critical opportunity for citizens to fix a government that's broken and that, by definition, the elected legislators who are part of it can not repair.

New York's law is a counterfeit — not to be recognized by other states whose legislators have more courage; or whose citizens voted to oppose it.

Citizens Union president Dick Dadey proposed «reform light» last week, in which LATFOR's work is inherited by a panel of legislative appointees who aren't legislators.

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino has announced that the Hon. Lois Taplin Bronz, the first woman and first African - American to chair Westchester County's Board of Legislators and a life - long champion for early childhood education, will be the top honoree at the 31st annual Westchester Senior Citizens Hall of Fame on Dec. 6.

The House of Commons has transformed itself over the past 25 years, with increasing speed, from a chamber of citizen legislators, who were funded by private interests, to one of professional politicians, who are financed by the taxpayer.

In a statement later Thursday, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said, «By definition, these regional addressees are designed to communicate directly with the citizens of New York, not legislators.

«It's rare when voters are able to take power away from legislators,» said Citizens Union Executive Director Dick Dadey.

This bill is the first step of many to reform our government and restore the Jeffersonian ideal of the citizen - legislator.»

I have been a longtime friend and believer in Bob Reilly, and while I am happy for him I know this state is losing a true citizen legislator.»

The governor wants to limit legislators» outside income to about $ 12,000 a year — a clear reaction to former assemblyman Sheldon Silver, whose lawyer argued during his corruption trial, «It's virtually impossible for someone to serve in this citizen - legislator model and not have some form of conflict.

Good government groups like Citizens Union and NYPIRG, as well as reform - minded legislators and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, have been calling for sweeping reforms aimed at truly cleaning up Albany's corruption problem.

For the sake of keeping state races clean and competitive, legislators ought to mend the Citizens» Election Program so that there's little excuse to end it.

Long instead suggested that the legislators visit parts of New York and «find out why companies are leaving and citizens are fleeing borders to state likes North Carolina.»

Given how many legislators take state grants to run for office — more than 80 percent of sitting legislators have gotten Citizens» Election Program funding, says Michael J. Brandi, executive director of the State Elections Enforcement Commission — it's a wonder that CEP has been targeted for elimination by both major parties in recent years.

The Erie County Legislature's Majority Caucus — Chairman John Mills, Majority Leader Joseph Lorigo and Legislators Lynne Dixon, Kevin Hardwick, Ted Morton and Edward Rath — is opposed to the Citizens Salary Review Commission's recommendation to raise the salaries of elected officials.

«The comments made by Legislator LaPierre demonstrate intolerance and have brought shame and embarrassment to the County Legislators and the citizens of St. Lawrence County,» Finance Committee Chair Joe Timmerman wrote in the censure order, which will be finally voted on in early February.

When you compare these citizen - soldiers striving to become citizen - legislators with most candidates - and contrast their pedigree with the conspicuous corruption in Washington and Albany - the difference is stunning.

By doing so, the report states that the constituent ratio — the number that indicates how many constituents are represented per one legislator — would be brought down to 16,103 citizens per legislator.

The report emphasized the ratio is substantially lower than the current ratio of 28,834 citizens per Syracuse Common Councilor or 27,558 per Onondaga County legislator.

She encouraged citizens to call their Onondaga County legislators to ask for a county - wide planning document - something she has been pushing for years.

The report states that the constituent ratio — the number that indicates how many constituents are represented per one legislator — would be brought down to 16,103 citizens per legislator, instead of the current ratio of 28,834 citizens per Syracuse Common Councilor and 27,558 per Onondaga County legislator.