As yet another wave of scandal has hit New York's state government, candidates for governor are unveiling their own proposals to fight corruption. 

The measures include proposals to strengthen the Freedom of Information Law and transparency while also beefing up oversight to catch wrongdoing. There's also a partisan divide in the approaches. 

Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, for instance, wants to enact a voter identification law — seen generally by conservatives as a way of restricting voter fraud, but opposed by Democrats. At the same time, Democratic New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams wants to cap campaign donations to $2,900 for all legislative and statewide offices. 

Either way, the measures are being proposed as New York state government is once again at an ethical crossroads following yet another high-profile corrption arrest.

The measures are being proposed after the resignation last month of former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, who is facing five counts of felony bribery and fraud stemming from his campaign in 2021 for New York City comptroller. Benjamin's resignation came less than a year after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo stepped down amid allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. Both have insisted they've done nothing wrong. 

Pledging to reform Albany is nearly as old as corruption itself, and governors from the Tammany Hall days to the 21st century have found the task easier said than done. 

Zeldin's 10-point plan includes having a prosecutor assigned to the executive branch to investigate wrongdoing and also creating a new website to track government spending while also term limiting elected officials. 

Williams, meanwhile, also wants the state attorney general's office to have a standing referral to investigate government corruption and expand a website that tracks government deal-making. In a reference to the recent change in state election law that enabled Benjamin's removal from the ballot, Williams wants to freeze election laws for 90 days prior to when voting begins. 

“Corruption, inaction and scandal have plagued Albany for far too long and it’s time for that to change,” Williams said. “We need a government that finally works for the working families, not just the billionaires and corporate special interests who write checks to politicians in order to write policies that don’t have all New Yorker’s best interest in mind."

Hochul in her first budget sought to tackle ethics issues in Albany, calling for term limits for statewide offices in New York and was able to secure an overhaul of the maligned ethics watchdog and regulator, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. The new commission will have a new appointment process designed to keep lawmakers and the governor removed from selecting who sits on the panel. 

"I deeply believe that the people of the State of New York deserve to have absolute confidence in their elected officials," Hochul said on Tuesday when announcing Rep. Antonio Delgado would replace Benjamin in the lieutenant governor's office. "And for that to happen, they must have full faith in those serving in the highest levels of state government adhering to the highest ethical standards."