As we all know, the Legislature in our state is one of three co-equal branches of our government; its purpose is to make law.

Laws can be good when they flow from the truth, but when “truth” is subjective (your truth or my truth), then laws can be quite destructive. The Legislature’s purpose is not to bow to the will of the executive branch, or to defer its law-making power to the judiciary, or to capitulate its power to a regulatory agency; rather, the elected members of the Legislature must represent their constituents by seeking the truth.

In practice, this would require legislators to announce they are seeking to change the law or pass a new law, then allowing a sufficient amount of time for citizens to learn about the bill so they can contact their elected representatives and then have sufficient time for a robust debate and finally a vote.

This process, properly followed, would permit citizens and legislators to have a thorough understanding of a problem and a well-crafted law to correct the problem (if needed). More importantly, this process would properly channel our society’s anxiety about many of the issues we face. Maybe it would even lower the political temperature, curb political violence, and reconcile some of our deep wounds?

When I first arrived in Albany, I expected bad laws to pass despite strong opposition. What I didn’t expect was the games or tricks played to move controversial legislation. For example, moving a bill to a floor vote with little less than a few minutes’ notice, or passing clear policy-laws within the thousands of pages of budget bills in violation of the New York constitution or bringing hundreds of bills to a floor vote with little time to research all their implications and passing some of those bills in the early morning hours while most of the state is asleep. These gimmicks don’t seek to pursue truth, but rather are done to maintain power.

What is the solution? One of my colleagues expressed to me the purpose of our legislative seats. In the Assembly, we sit in a semi-circle, facing each other, so we can see each other, listen to each other and learn about each other. In this way, we should be able to have a respectful dialogue and debate about the issues, so we can come to the truth.

A transparent Legislature, where issues raised are followed by intelligent information gathering and robust argument, would result in good laws that were beneficial for our state. This is a change we should demand. Until then, I’ll keep fighting for you, not just in Albany, but in every corner of Chautauqua County by pursuing and standing up for the truth.

Assemblyman Andrew Molitor represents the 150th Assembly District, encompassing all of Chautauqua County. For more information on Assemblyman Molitor, please follow him on Facebook.