ALBANY – Assembly Democrats overwhelmingly rejected the idea Wednesday of restoring pre-pandemic access for reporters to their chamber and nearby areas as proposed by colleagues across the aisle.

“Let’s face it, there are plenty of closed-door meetings and backroom negotiations in this building that even elected members of this body are denied access to,” Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Garden City) said while arguing in favor of the rules change on the Assembly floor Wednesday.

“And I think there should be absolutely no confusion and no ambiguity about where members of the press are allowed honestly,” he added.

But the resolution sponsored by Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Fulton) was nonetheless rejected along party lines despite complaints from the press, which for years had relatively free access to legislators within the chamber as long as they did not interrupt proceedings.

Reporters for years would also line up outside the office of the Assembly speaker to coax him to answer their questions in impromptu gaggles – an area that became off-limits soon after the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in New York.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) now limits reporters to seats in the back of the chamber and in front of its rostrum while claiming press access has not substantively changed.

He has also refused to budge on letting journalists anywhere near his office unless they are invited.

“New Yorkers deserve a government that works for them and does so in an open and transparent fashion,” he said in a March 15 press release touting legislation passed during National Sunshine Week.

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D-Buffalo) noted on the chamber floor Wednesday that existing rules require that reporters get seats to watch proceedings from inside the chamber without addressing ongoing complaints about access to other areas.

But Republicans say that is not good enough following a recent letter to Heastie from the Legislative Correspondents Association – an organization repping the Fourth Estate within the Capitol whose president is the Albany reporter for The New York Post – about COVID rules remaining in place despite such measures being abandoned for Assembly members.

“Members of the press may not always be convenient but they keep us honest. They’re the ones that make sure our constituents know what’s going on with this Capitol and force us to really answer the tough questions,” Ra said Wednesday.