Hochul wants term limits for governor, state-wide elected officials

Posted 4 January 2022 at 3:11 pm

Press Release, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Office

Governor Kathy Hochul announced a plan to institute term limits for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and Comptroller as the first proposal of the 2022 State of the State.

Hochul will introduce a constitutional amendment to set limits of two consecutive terms for statewide elected officials or 8 years maximum. Hochul will also propose legislation to impose a ban on earned outside income for the same statewide elected officials, with an exception for academic positions that must receive ethics board approval.

“On day one as Governor, I pledged to restore trust in government and I have taken steps every day to deliver the open, ethical governing New Yorkers deserve,” Governor Hochul said. “I want people to believe in their government again. With these bold reforms, we will ensure New Yorkers know their leaders work for them and are focused on serving the people of this state.”

From her first day in office, Governor Hochul has taken actions to restore public trust in government:

Ethics Trainings: Governor Hochul signed an Executive Order requiring all State employees to take an ethics training course upon hiring and regularly thereafter.
FOIL Reforms: Governor Hochul implemented reforms to the FOIL process to increase transparency with journalists and members of the public. The Governor also began requiring state agencies to identify and proactively post commonly requested data, to reduce the need for FOILs in the first place
Recusal Agreements: The Governor and other senior members of her administration released the full recusal agreements they abide by.
Transparency Plans: Governor Hochul directed more than 70 executive agencies and public authorities to release public transparency plans, which are publicly posted online.
Combating Harassment And Discrimination: To improve the Executive Chamber’s response to accusations of harassment and discrimination, Governor Hochul retained an independent outside law firm to investigate all claims in a fair, unbiased manner and created a new Human Resources department.