Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has faced heavy criticism for the way he handled sexual harassment allegations against former Assemblyman Vito Lopez. (Photo by Daniel Barry/Getty Images)
The state Senate passed a bill on Monday that would cap the length of time a lawmaker can serve in a leadership post at 12 years, The Daily News reports.
The vote comes as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has been speaker since 1994, continues to face heavy scrutiny over the way he handled sexual harassment allegations against former Assemblyman Vito Lopez.
No one openly stated that the bill’s passage had anything to do with Silver, but some Senate Republicans did not deny the idea, the News reports.
“We have seen recent examples of what happens when you accumulate power and stay too long,” one Senate Republican official said. “You need new leadership from time to time.”
The Democratic-controlled Assembly is not expected to take up the bill, the News reports. The Republican-majority Senate already limits its members from staying in leadership positions for more than eight years.
