Thursday, May 10, 2007

Whistling Past the Graveyard

The furor over the King whistle blower legislation found its way to City Hall yesterday as a resolution supporting the congressman's measure was introduced by Councilman Monseratte,. And, as the NY Sun reports, a press conference led by the councilman, was also held and was attended by New York business leader John Catsimatidis. Catsimatidis has taken out ads in support of King's initiative, a bill that needs Senate support to go into law, and was the impetus behind the resolution that was introduced yesterday.

In addition, the Republican minority leader of the Council, Jimmy Oddo of Staten Island, was joined on the steps of City Hall by his Republican colleague Vinnie Ignizio and Council Finance Chair David Weprin. Councilmen Recchia, Nelson and Gentile are also co-sponsoring the resolution and it is hoped that the measure will garner the backing of a majority of the body. It wil be intriguing to see what position the speaker takes on this issue.

An interesting feature of the Sun story is the fact that US Senator Charles Schumer announced that he "generally" is supportive of whistle blower protection, and that he would, "have to take a look" at the legislation. Senator Clinton's office was unavailable for comment. With the events of the Jersey Jihadists still fresh in our minds, it would seem that whistle blower protection should be a legislative priority for all New York lawmakers.