New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vetoed legislation to subject police disciplinary proceedings to arbitration under their union contracts, reversing Court of Appeals rulings since 2006 involving New York City and Hudson Valley towns.

A spokesman for the governor says the Legislature has passed versions of the same measure four times, and prior administrations believed police discipline “is best left in the purview of publicly accountable elected officials.”

Spokesman Richard Azzopardi says Friday the Cuomo administration “does not see a compelling reason to disagree.”

Legislative sponsors said many police contracts established disciplinary procedures following 1967’s Taylor Law whose purpose was to make all public sector employment terms subject to collective bargaining. Their bill would have restored that.

The top court says earlier statutes authorize elected officials to discipline police.

(AP)