News

NEW YORK, NY May 07, 2008 —After unveiling budget reforms that angered most of her members, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is offering a new plan, one she says will include the toughest discretionary spending disclosure rules in the country.

Under her proposal, grants to non-profits over $10,000 would be reviewed by the Mayor's Office of Contracts and the State Attorney General. Grants for less than $10,000 would be vetted by the council's finance office. Quinn says conflicts of interest would have to be declared by both the non-profit and the council member requesting the grant.

The council is the focus of an ongoing federal and city probe, one that led to the indictment of two council aides for embezzling from a charity.

A new poll suggests Quinn may be weathering the scandal, started after she revealed that the council, for decades, had used fake groups to create a slush fund for mid-year spending priorities. Quinnipiac University's poll found 21 percent blamed Quinn, 23 percent blamed previous council speakers, and 41 percent were undecided.