By Alan S. Chartock

There is a new bill floating around the Legislature that would bar prosecutors and the police from confiscating condoms from “sex workers,” also known as prostitutes.

Prosecutors use the seized condoms as evidence against the prostitutes. Obviously, if sex workers use condoms, both they and their clients are protected from disease. The idea that the police are confiscating the condoms and/or using them as evidence for convicting prostitutes seems ludicrous when we know that the condoms are protecting people. Prostitution in any form is the world’s oldest profession; it will be around long after we are gone. You don’t have to be in the Secret Service to understand this truth.

Naturally, many law enforcement professionals are against changing the law. If they are convicting prostitutes, they don’t want anything standing in their way, even the public’s health.

There is a political subtext to all of this, which comes down to control of the New York State Senate by the Republicans or Democrats. Right now, just a few measly votes are needed for the Democrats to take control of the Senate. The Democrats did such a bad job running their house after they took control a few years back that lots of people were left thinking that the state was better off without them. Maybe that’s why they were kicked out—they ignored the secret of New York politics, which is that if you don’t have the middle class (they vote big time), you can’t win.

In fact, one could surmise that one of the reasons so many of us, based on the evidence, think Gov. Andrew Cuomo prefers to work with the Republicans rather than the Democrats in the Senate is that the Senate Democrats are far more progressive than Cuomo. This is a governor who goes where the votes are. He doesn’t deviate from that. His father was known for doing the opposite, and in the end, it probably cost him his last re-election effort. Just Google “Mario Cuomo death penalty.”

The middle class doesn’t appear to think or care that much about sex workers. That’s why, when State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery stood up to defend the utterly defensible condom bill, she made a point to say, “We are not endorsing prostitution.”

She went on to say, “It is simply the fact that over 100,000 people right now are infected with HIV and AIDS in New York City.”

Sometimes, doing the right thing flies in the face of good electoral politics. My bet is that the Senate Republicans see Democratic Sen. Montgomery’s bill as an early Christmas present. In fact, one has to look no further than to Montgomery’s insistence that she and her conference were not “endorsing prostitution.” When you suggest that you are not doing something, you lead the reader, viewer or listener to the conclusion that you are doing something. In other words, rather than denying something, you are probably better off keeping your mouth shut.

Let posterity record that in this case, I believe the senator is correct. Forbidding the seizure of condoms from sex workers is courageous because it is the right thing to do, even if it isn’t the politically expedient thing to do. In fact, instead of moving to the middle to get more middle-class votes, this bill risks alienating a crucial voting bloc.

If just one life can be saved by encouraging the use of condoms, this bill will be worth it. Sometimes, you just have to do what is right and not what is political. I am waiting to hear Cuomo’s position on this. Just remember, though, that I am not endorsing prostitution.

Alan S. Chartock is president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and an executive publisher at The Legislative Gazette.

In his Jan. 6 State of the State speech, Paterson laid out an ambitious plan of long overdue regulations to whip Albany back into shape. Some highlights:

Photo by Andrew Schwartz

• Drastic cutbacks on allowable campaign contributions, including an outright ban on corporate donations;

• A requirement that legislators disclose outside income;

• Public financing for campaigns, much like the city’s arrangement;

• Term limits for all state offices (six, two-year terms for Senators and Assembly members; and two, four-year terms for other statewide officials)—something that’s sure to be an uphill battle;

• An independent state government ethics commission to replace the broken Commission on Public Integrity, which effectively lets legislators police themselves.

While these reforms sound like a good government group’s dream, some legislators are suggesting that the governor is merely trying to boost low poll numbers. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver pointed out that his house has previously passed campaign finance reform, but Paterson opposed it. “If he had a change of mind, I welcome him,” Silver added. “I’m still sponsoring a public campaign finance bill.”

At press time, the Legislature was reportedly working on a reform package as well. We’re happy to consider what lawmakers put forward, as long as it is as comprehensive as Paterson’s plan. But the danger here is that our representatives—Paterson included—will get mired in politicking and use that as an excuse not to act.

Quite frankly, we don’t care why anyone supports reform, so long as the proposals being supported have teeth and will make headway in changing the way Albany does business. Yes, lawmakers need to focus on job creation and balancing the budget, but these tasks become exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, when special interest groups control the debate. That can change with proper campaign finance reform.

Now is the time for everyone in Albany to stop making excuses and start making changes—or voters will do it for them.