Behind closed doors, Cuomo holds bill signing

Joseph Spector | Albany Bureau Chief

ALBANY - Negotiations over the state budget and key legislation are usually done behind closed doors at the state Capitol. On Tuesday, so too was a bill signing.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo privately signed a bill to outlaw child marriage of minors under age 17, making good on a pledge earlier this month to put the measure into law.

But Cuomo held the event with lawmakers and advocates behind closed doors in the ornate Red Room without advising the Capitol press corps about it.

It was first made public after attendees sent out pictures on Twitter about the event, which showed Cuomo signing the bill with his aides and lawmakers at his side. His office soon after sent out a news release about the bill signing.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi downplayed the omission of the press at the event.

"We offered some photos with advocates and the legislators on this issue, which we've done with other bills before. That's all this was," Azzopardi said.

The legislative session is set to end Wednesday for the year, and Cuomo did not take questions from reporters Tuesday about end-of-session negotiations.

Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group, criticized Cuomo's closed-door bill signing, calling it another example of the lack of transparency in state government.

"Albany is a secret place and in this administration, the curtains have been kept shut tight," Horner said.

The new law will ban marriages of minors under age 17 and require court approvals for those aged 17 who want to get married. The previous law allowed people as young as 14 to get married.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, Westchester County, sponsored the bill and attended the private bill signing. She said she was asked by Cuomo's office to attend and didn't know it would be closed to the press.

She said the new law will impact young people's lives, particularly girls who may be forced into marriage.

"Today we changed the destiny of so many young New Yorkers by giving them an opportunity for a bright future," Paulin said.