FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 5, 2026
Speaker Carl Heastie today announced he intends to nominate Joanne E. Barker to the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government.
Barker is a dedicated public servant who worked for the New York State Assembly for 27 years, serving first as an associate counsel, then assistant secretary for Program and Policy and finally as counsel to the Majority. In her role as counsel to the Majority, she gave ethics advice to Assembly members and staff, as well as assisting in negotiations of bills involving ethics, Freedom of Information Law provisions and Open Meetings Law provisions.
Prior to joining the Assembly, Joanne worked for more than six years with the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York in Saratoga. Before that, she was with the law firm of then Palmer and Dodge in Boston, Mass. for more than five years.
Joanne earned a B.A. from Harvard-Radcliffe College, her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and most recently her Ph.D. in History from the University at Albany.
Public comments to the nomination can be submitted here.