NEW YORK:  Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders announced the appointment of 14 members to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.  Governor Cuomo chose Janet DiFiore, the District Attorney of Westchester County, to chair the commission.

The new agency replaces the Commission on Public Integrity, which was created in 2007 by the merger of the ethics and lobbying commissions.  Under a law signed on August 15, the new commission came into existence yesterday.

The creation of the joint commission put operations of the prior agency on hold, except for collecting lobbying expenditure reports, financial disclosure reports by state employees, and conducting on-line ethical training courses. Any allegations of unethical conduct it has received will be transferred to the new commission.

Approximately 30 employees remain with the commission, about half the work force when the Commission on Public Integrity was formed in 2007.