Bill Mahoney at Politico New York reports that journalists in Albany June 15 spotted the rare and elusive Senate Ethics committee meeting for the first time in eight years. The committee announced they will release a one-page newsletter this summer giving legislators ideas on holding community events and obeying the state’s gift law. And committee members briefly discussed changing the process of passing resolutions on the committee. June 2, 2009 was the last time the committee met. The legislator who chaired that 2009 meeting has since been sentenced to a five-year prison sentence on obstruction of justice charges, and about a sixth of the other 61 members serving at that time have been indicted. And leaders of both houses, from both parties, have been sentenced on corruption charges. Democrat Sen. Mike Gianaris said the meeting amounted to little. “The sun is out, but it was blocked from actually having any impact,” he said. “So we had a meeting, but very little in the way of actual ethics discussion took place.” Read the full story at Politico New York.