New York, NY —

A bill to reform the state's public authorities is facing some last minute opposition, even though it's already passed the legislature. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: At stake is how the MTA and hundreds of other powerful public authorities do business. Dick Dadey, with Citizens Union, says the reform bill is long overdue. He says an upstate land deal several years ago forced a spotlight on what can happen when both transparency and accountability are lacking at public authorities.

DADEY: This developer was getting this sweetheart deal for $30,000 he was going to have all this land along the Erie Canal and it was being handled by a public authority and that was wrong.

REPORTER: In addition to submitting to fiscal monitoring by the State Comptroller, the boards that govern the authorities would be required to operate more independently of the elected officials who appoint them. Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson say they support the goals of the bill, but think it still needs refining. For WNYC I am Bob Hennelly.