FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY (October 9, 2025) – Citizens Union issued the following statement from Policy Director Ben Weinberg on the passing of New York City Council Resolution 1058-A, a proposal to revise the Council’s internal rules:
“Last month, the City Council attempted to rush through the most significant set of changes to its governing rules in more than a decade. Citizens Union sounded the alarm and urged the Council not to approve such substantial changes without more time for a public review. We are encouraged that the Council took additional time to hear feedback before considering approving changes to its rules of operations.
The Rules of the Council are incredibly important. They establish the distribution or power within the legislative body, and determine which priorities can move forward, when, and by whom. They are the primary vehicle to make the body more democratic, open, transparent, and accountable.
We appreciate the Council’s willingness to listen and adjust its proposed changes in response to legitimate concerns from council members, good government groups, and New Yorkers who value transparency and accountability.
To be clear, major overhauls of the Council rules should only be undertaken after public hearings and extensive stakeholder input, and must consider the needs of the public. Come January, the next Council Speaker must work to strengthen the Council’s rules by providing greater public notice before legislative action, making nomination processes—especially for Board of Elections appointments—fully public, and establishing clear safeguards around the Speaker’s discretionary funding.
We look forward to hearing from Speaker candidates about how they plan to make the Council a more transparent, accountable, and collaborative body.”
The rules we expect to be approved this week include several positive changes, such as requiring that bills be accompanied by a sponsor’s memo and clarifying standards on ethics, oversight, and meeting decorum. Revisions made in response to public and member input include increasing the motion-to-discharge threshold from seven to nine (instead of eleven); limiting the Speaker’s ability to change the rules during a state of emergency; and adjusting how the 60-day deadline for responding to legislative requests is counted, among others.
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