Every Friday, the Brennan Center will be compiling the
latest news concerning the corrosive nature of money in New York State
politics—and the ongoing need for public financing and robust campaign finance
reform. We’ll also be linking to dispatches from around the country
highlighting the national scope of this crisis. This week’s links were
contributed by Syed Zaidi.
For more stories on an ongoing basis, follow the Twitter
hashtag #moNeYpolitics and #fairelex.
NEW YORK
Moreland Commission Launched to Investigate Public
Corruption
On July 2, Governor Cuomo issued an executive order
to appoint a Moreland Act Commission to investigate public corruption. The commission’s
25 members include district attorneys, prosecutors, defense lawyers, civic
leaders and legal scholars. The Commission is co-chaired by Nassau County
District Attorney Kathleen Rice, Onondaga County District Attorney William J.
Fitzpatrick, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of
New York Milton L. Williams, Jr. New York Leadership for Accountable Government
member Peter L. Zimroth, a former Chief Assistant District Attorney in
Manhattan, is also serving on the commission. The commission is charged with
examining the effectiveness of campaign finance laws and the structure and
functioning of the State Board of Elections and recommending reforms to
strengthen the laws and their enforcement. It will also recommend ways to
address any weaknesses in the laws that govern public corruption, conflicts of
interest, and ethics in government. In December, following the identification
of weaknesses in existing laws, regulations and procedures the Commission will
issue a preliminary policy report with initial findings and recommendations.
New Digital Platform Can Help Foster Transparent Elections
In a Times-Union
op-ed, John Kaehny and Andrew Rasiei ask New Yorkers to help digitize our
state government by adopting the State Open Campaign System. New Yorkers use
computers, tablets and smart phones regularly to read, shop, bank and interact
with friends. Now our state has the opportunity to use these same tools to
bring greater transparency and accountability to our elections and political
campaigns. The State Board of Elections is burdened by obsolete technology and
data systems built over 20 years ago. Establishing an open platform that allows
campaigns to report expenditure and contributions and utilizes address and
identity verification features to detect and deter abuses would help make our
elections fairer. Digital records would also further aid the Board of Elections
in their auditing process and provide government watchdogs with real time data
that they can import directly into their systems for analysis. As a start-up
capital, New York State should lead the way in making our government more
transparent through technology.
Real Estate Developers Exploit Loophole to Spend Million on
Elections
Real estate developers and unions aligned with them are
exploiting a frequently criticized loophole in state campaign finance law to
funnel $5.1 million for a new political action committee that aims to elect
pro-business City Council members. Under New York state election laws, a
corporation can donate $5,000 per year to state campaigns, and an individual
can contribute up to $150,000. However, under a 1996 ruling by the State Board
of Elections, Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) are considered “individuals”
under the law, allowing large real estate developers to funnel funds through
each separate building incorporated as a single LLC. Big real estate companies
have used these rules to make donations to the Jobs for New York political
action committee through a slew of LLCs. For example, Glenwood
Management gave a total of $425,000 through 17 different LLCs. Jobs for New York has spent more than $1.4
million to date, including $432,000 on polling and $339,075 on direct mail. It
aims to raise between $7 million and $10 million for the 2013 elections.
New NYC Votes App Allows Residents to Contribute to
Campaigns on Smart Phones
Want to contribute money to your favorite New York City
Council candidate this November? Just pull your phone out of your pocket! The New York City Campaign Finance Board is
expected to roll out a new
tool that will allow donors to contribute to local political campaigns from
their phone. All candidates for city mayor, public advocate, comptroller,
borough president and city council can receive the donations after setting up
an account on the NYC Votes app. Contributors simply have to plug
in information about their name, address, occupation, and the amount they
wish to donate. Voter Assistance Advisory Committee Chair Art Chang, whose
firm, Tipping Point Partners, co-designed
the app, stated that “We hope that this platform will inform and motivate
New Yorkers to vote and stay engaged throughout the year."
NATIONAL
U.S. House Passes Farm Bill with Big Giveaways for
Agriculture Industry
The U.S. House of Representatives has just passed a farm
bill that is expected to cost
$195 billion over the next decade, adding an additional $8.9
billion above the current funding level for subsidies targeted towards big
agricultural corporations. Food stamps, administered through the Supplemental
Nutritional Assistance Program, were excluded from the bill. In 2012, more than
46 million Americans received food stamps, with the average individual
obtaining approximately $130 in benefits per month. The House voted
216 to 208 in favor of the bill, with all Democrats and 12 Republicans
opposing the measure. As Derek Thompson of The Atlantic demonstrates, this bill
typifies the influence of money on our elected officials and the decisions
they make. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) describes Congressmen as “functionally
telemarketers.” When lawmakers fundraise, they encounter agricultural lobbyists
and corporations, rather than everyday Americans, much less poor people on food
stamps. In such an environment “passing a bill without increased farm subsidies
seems wholly unacceptable but passing a bill without food assistance for 47
million families feels a-okay.”
New Proposal at Federal Election Commission May Further
Hamper Investigations
Few Americans have heard of the Federal Election Commission,
and probably even fewer are aware of its legal responsibilities. This should
not be surprising, as it turns out the FEC does very little – remaining
gridlocked on key decisions affecting our nation’s transparency, ethics and
campaign finance laws. For nearly three
long years the FEC has failed to pass rules on matters presented before the
commission due to the inability of the three Republicans and three Democrats on
the panel to come to an agreement. The FEC only
accepted 135 enforcement cases in 2012, compared to 612 in 2007. Of the
cases that were accepted, 19 percent resulted in dismissal in 2012, compared to
less than 1 percent in the past. Now with a temporary 3-to-2 Republican
majority due to the departure of Democrat-nominated Commissioner Cynthia L.
Bauerly, the Republican Vice Chairman Donald McGahn is determined
to push through changes that would further weaken the body. Under the new
proposal, agency workers would not be allowed to forward information about
potential criminal violations of campaign laws to the Justice Department
without approval from the six commissioners, or consult publicly available
information when considering enforcement matters. The nation needs a fully
staffed and functional FEC. President Obama
has nominated Ann Ravel, head of California’s campaign finance agency, and
Lee Goodman, a Republican election lawyer, to the commission.
Oregon and 15 Other States Seek to Overturn Citizens United
This July, Oregon became the 16th state to formally call for
an amendment to the Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens
United. On the eve of the nation’s Fourth of July celebrations, House
Joint Memorial 6 passed the state House and Senate. Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission, decided by the Supreme Court in 2008, unleashed
copious amounts of corporate and union contributions into American elections.
Many interest groups and political campaign strategists formed Super PACs and
501(c)(4)s in its aftermath to funnel unlimited, and frequently undisclosed,
funds into competitive races. The Oregon
resolution urges Congress to propose a constitutional amendment “clarifying
the distinction between the rights of natural persons and the rights of
corporations” and recognizing “that Congress and state legislatures may
regulate all moneys raised and spent for political purposes.” Support for an
amendment reversing Citizens United comes on the heels of national
efforts by Public Citizen, Common Cause, Free Speech for People, Move to
Amend and other grassroots coalitions. Legislative resolutions or statewide
referendums have thus far emerged from California, Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New
Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and the
District of Columbia. Roughly 500 municipalities have also passed similar
measures.
Proponents and Opponents Spend Big in Fight Over Obamacare
As the implementation of the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, popularly known as “Obamacare,” goes into effect, opposing
groups are launching
advertisements touting the costs and benefits of the law. Americans for
Prosperity, a conservative 501(c)(4) advocacy group, plans on spending more
than $1 million advertising in Ohio and Virginia. The online component of the
ads asks viewers to test their “Obamacare risk factors.” Once people enter
information such as their gender, age and employer, the site generates various risks
presumably associated with the new law, such as longer waiting periods, delayed
care, and being forced to share personal health information with the Internal
Revenue Service. In a strategic shift, Americans for Prosperity is aiming for
liberal-leaning demographic groups such as young women, with ads set to
broadcast during popular programs like Chopped, Law & Order: SVU and Good
Morning America. Organizing for Action, a group established to bolster support
for President Obama’s agenda, is also running ads promoting the
supposed benefits of the law. In sum, according to estimates by the
Campaign Media Analysis Group at Kantar Media, over half a billion dollars have
been spent since 2010 criticizing or defending the law.
