When the news emerged about the office of Gov. Eliot Spitzer using state police to track the travel of state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno in order to discredit him, there was a real danger that the concern about using state aircraft for political business would disappear.

Spitzer deservedly took considerable heat for going too far in his political feud with Bruno, but that did not make the core issue of state aircraft policy any less important.

Thanks to the state Ethics Commission, the issue is back on the front burner.

The commission last week issued a ruling - long overdue - that requires officials to account for time they use state aircraft and to reimburse the taxpayers for portions of trips that aren't for public purposes. That means officials must pay for side trips to political fundraisers when they're traveling on state business.

Previously, the use of state aircraft to get to a political event was allowed with no restrictions as long as some portion of the overall trip had a public purpose.

Credit should also go out to the New York Public Interest Research Group, Common Cause, Citizens Union of New York City and the state League of Women Voters, which had formally requested for a ruling on the issue by the commission.

It's important, however, to point out that the Ethics Commission can and should go further, but this action was a positive step.

Ultimately we would like to see an outright ban on any aircraft use related to political activities, a position ironically now supported by Bruno. It was Bruno's use of such aircraft that Spitzer aides were attempting to expose, but under the rules at that time, the majority leader had done nothing illegal.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had made that determination about Bruno's activities, but added that the policy in place at that point was “overly permissive and porous and allows for an abuse of taxpayer funds.”