With Albany again roiled by scandal, Governor Andrew Cuomo is presenting lawmakers with a threat: they have to pass a new slate of ethics laws he's proposing, or else he won't sign the state budget on time. It comes after the governor folded from a similar promise during the last legislative session. NY1's Josh Robin filed this report.

A week and a half ago, the Assembly Speaker left federal court—accused of corruption in mixing his official duties with his side law work.

It was a familar enough scene in Albany, but Governor Andrew Cuomo says he's shocked.

"I need to be able to look every New Yorker in the eye and say 'we have a system to deter, detect and punish, and that system works,'" Cuomo says.

To get there, Cuomo has a five-point plan that's at least a partial dream list of good government groups:

  • Lawmakers must now totally disclose outside income, including law clients to some extent
  • Officials convicted of corruption will see their pensions stripped
  • Reimbursements for travel to and from Albany will be scrutinized
  • No personal use of campaign funds
  • Better disclosure of campaign funds with a public financing system

"We have hit a point in new york I think where the frustruation is so great and the scandal has reached the point where's there's going to be tremendous pressure to get these changes through," says Lawrence Norden of NYU Law Brennan Center.

If not, Cuomo says he's willing to hold up the budget if he doesn't get it. 

"Sometimes ugly is necessary," Cuomo says.

It's the opposite of what the Democrat did last year. Facing re-election, he folded an anti-corruption Moreland Commision looking into lawmakers outside income.  

Still, how much leverage does Cuomo really have?

State lawmakers are re-elected 97 percent of the time, and the odds have remained high during on-time and late budgets.

What about banning outside income altogether for legislators? Cuomo says it's an idea worth considering, but also notes it would go against a centuries-old tradition in New York State.

"The historic view was a citizen legislature—where you're a part-time legislator, and then you go back to your community and you have a real life and a real job. And that job was important because it grounded you in reality," Cuomo says.

The budget deadline is March 31.