Money in Politics This Week

The Brennan Center regularly compiles 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 Co-chairs: Pass Election Reforms

In a Daily News op-ed on Sunday, two of the co-chairs of the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption explained why they recommended public financing as a solution to the persistent problem of pay-to-play politics in Albany. Kathleen Rice, the district attorney of Nassau County, and William Fitzpatrick, the district attorney of Onondaga County, were among a number of legal experts and district attorneys tasked with examining the state of New York’s corruption and campaign laws. What the commission uncovered was not only illegal acts, but numerous “legal activities that would shake anyone’s trust in our government.” As Rice and Fitzpatrick explained, “Unfortunately, there is nothing illegal about donating $100,000 to a politician’s reelection committee, then receiving millions in the form of a helpful tax break in a spending bill.” However this year offers a unique opportunity to end the corruption scandals in Albany, and return state government back into the hands of citizens. “Imagine how much good the government could do if our elected leaders had built-in incentives to spend more time talking to and serving their constituents rather than doing the bidding of well-connected donors?” Such a system is a real possibility—Governor Cuomo has included a holistic package of reforms recommended by the commission in his budget proposal. The only question that remains now is whether the governor and the legislature will pass it.

New York Times: Public Financing Can Clean Up Albany

This week, Eleanor Randolph, of the New York Times editorial board, endorsed Governor Cuomo’s public financing proposal to reform elections in New York. Randolph wrote that campaign finance is incredibly important, as the way elections are funded predetermines who can run for public office. Under the current system, only the wealthy or those with a vast network of well-heeled donors can compete. The reform plan, which would match small donations from constituents with public funds, has “worked well for decades in New York City.” Randolph applauded the Public Campaign Action Fund’s ad campaign pushing public financing, which analogizes the decrepit state of the Statue of Liberty with the corrosive political environment in Albany. Although the Statue of Liberty took years to repair, she notes, it “would take just a day or two for Albany’s politicians to enact this crucial reform.”

Horner: Time for Cuomo and Legislature to Take Real Action on Reform

Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, in a commentary piece for the WAMC Northeast Public Radio, demanded that Governor Cuomo and the legislature take real action on campaign finance reform. “For at least 30 years, New York governors have called for sweeping campaign finance reforms. But for all that talk, Governors Mario Cuomo, George Pataki, Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson achieved virtually no reforms,” he stated. Horner commended Cuomo for including reform in his budget—which forces the legislature to debate the issue. A majority of assemblymen, as well as the Senate Co-leader Jeffrey Klein have come out in favor of comprehensive reform with a voluntary public financing option. Horner concludes: “Given the tremendous institutional power of the executive, the support of the state Assembly, and the apparent support among many Senators, the fate of meaningful campaign finance reform will hinge on whether the governor can round up the necessary Senate votes.... How that plays out will be a real test for the governor.”

Money in Politics This Week

The Brennan Center regularly compiles 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

Good Government Groups to Cuomo and Legislative Leaders: Pass Reform Before Budget Deadline

Several good-government groups, including the New York Public Interest Research Group, Common Cause, Citizen Action, the League of Women Voters, and the Brennan Center, gathered in Albany on Tuesday to encourage state leaders to enact comprehensive campaign finance reform. Governor Cuomo has proposed numerous reforms in his budget: a system of matching small donations with public funds, lower corporate contributions limits, and $5.3 million for the state Board of Elections to enforce campaign finance and election laws. The governor, as well as Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Independent Democratic Conference Senate Co-leader Jeff Klein, have all come out in favor of public financing for election campaigns. With public financing in the budget this year, the reform groups called on the elected officials to make sure it remains in the final budget agreement between the governor and legislature.

Teachout on MSNBC: Fair Elections in New York Serves as National Model

On Tuesday, Zephyr Teachout, associate professor at the Fordham University School of Law, appeared on All In With Chris Hayes on MSNBC to discuss the problem of money in American politics. Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times joined Hayes and Teachout, to explain the intricate network of undisclosed wealthy donors seeking to influence American elections. When asked how we can solve the problem of money in politics, Teachout said, “We should respond like the great Republican Teddy Roosevelt with two different political responses. One is public funding of campaigns. And two is breaking up this consolidated power.” When informed about Tom Steyer—a retired billionaire investor who plans to spend $100 million during the 2014 elections to pressure lawmakers to act on climate change—Teachout said that his money would be better spent on addressing the root causes of our government’s failure to address climate change. She gave the example of the effort to pass public financing in New York State as one solution to target the systemic problem of money in politics.

JCOPE Rejects Applications from Groups Seeking Disclosure Exemptions

The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics rejected applications from four groups on Tuesday seeking exemptions from state disclosure rules. The commission mandates reports from lobbying organizations, but can withhold the records of contributors to the lobbying groups if the donors might suffer “harm, threats, harassment or reprisals” from public knowledge of their support to the specific entities. Applications from left-leaning organizations such as the Family Planning Advocates (FPA), the Women’s Equality Coalition (WEC), the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) as well as the right-leaning New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms (NYCF) were rejected by the commission. In the summer of last year, NARAL, a pro-choice organization was granted exemption from disclosure. Two of the groups, the NYCLU and NYCF said they would consider every available option to protect their donors’ identities.

Money in Politics This Week

The Brennan Center regularly compiles 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 Katherine Munyan and Syed Zaidi.

For more stories on an ongoing basis, follow the Twitter hashtag #moNeYpolitics and #fairelex. 

NEW YORK

Congressmen Support Public Campaign Financing

Three members of New York’s congressional delegation announced their support for publicly financed elections this week. U.S. Representatives Hakeem Jeffries, Sean Maloney and Dan Maffei held a conference call for reporters along with Karen Scharff of Citizen Action of New York to call for the passage of a bill that would create a public funding system for congressional elections. The Government by the People Act is sponsored by Representative John Sarbanes and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. It provides matching funds to candidates who garner small contributions, like the system Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed in his executive budget.

Papers Question Wisdom of Liquor Warehouse Bill

A new bill proposed by Senator Jeffrey Klein (IDC-Bronx) would require all spirits to be warehoused in New York for at least 24 hours before they can be sold in the state. Currently many liquor merchants store their products in New Jersey, where the imported wine typically arrives and the cost of storage is lower. Wine sellers claim the legislation will lead to higher prices for consumers, while proponents argue that it would put New York law on par with other states and create more jobs. Empire Merchants and Southern Wine and Spirits are two distributors with warehouses in New York that allegedly stand to benefit from the bill. Pieces criticizing the legislation appeared in the Albany Times-Union and the Daily News. The Times-Union column revealed that Empire Merchants and its leadership have donated $53,000 to Senator Klein since 2009, and $31,000 to his Independent Democratic Conference, which co-leads the Senate in a coalition with the Republicans. A New York Post investigation last week illustrated that Empire Merchants and its subsidiaries have donated a total of $797,850 to state lawmakers since 2009, while Southern Wine and Spirits has contributed $106,856 to state campaigns over the same period.

Congressman Grimm’s Contributor Arraigned in Federal Court

Diana Durand, a 47-year-old resident of Houston, was arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday for irregularities related to U.S. Representative Michael Grimm’s campaign. A Justice Department probe of the campaign alleges that Durand, a former business associate of Grimm, illegally reimbursed donors in order to evade legal contribution limits and funnel more money to Grimm’s 2010 Congressional campaign. Stuart Kaplan, the attorney representing Durand, said that Durand simply did not understand the regulations surrounding campaign finance. “This is a woman that was never involved with politics before she met Michael Grimm. I think she is totally or she was totally devoid or ignorant to the rules or regulations or laws or ethical constraints with respect to fundraising,” said Kaplan. Grimm’s campaign has been facing allegations of irregularities for the past two years. Last year, Ofer Biton, a former fundraiser for Grimm pleaded guilty to visa fraud. And a few weeks ago, in a video that has since gone viral, the Congressman threatened a reporter who posed questions regarding his campaign. However, Grimm has not been implicated in any of the federal investigations.

Attorney General Responds to Dark Money Group’s Attempt to Quash Subpoena

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed documents in response to a dark money political consultant’s request to quash a subpoena by the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. The Moreland Commission’s December subpoena to Strategic Advantage International sought to shed light on the donations to and expenditures by Common Sense Principles, which spent more dark money in the 2010 and 2012 elections than any other entity in the state. The sole contributor listed on state records for the group was a shell company; however the group’s website was registered to Strategic Advantage International. According to filings, Common Sense Principles raised $2.62 million in 2010 and spent $2.54 million to run attack ads against Democratic state senators. Attorney General Schneiderman said the commission wants to gain an understanding of how dark money was spent in the state, in an effort to improve state disclosure and political expenditure laws.

Money in Politics This Week

The Brennan Center regularly compiles 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 Katherine Munyan and Syed Zaidi. 

For more stories on an ongoing basis, follow the Twitter hashtag #moNeYpolitics and #fairelex.

NEW YORK

New York Times Editorial: Pass Public Financing to Reform Albany

A New York Times editorial last week urged Governor Andrew Cuomo to press forward on campaign finance reform. Pointing to last year’s scandals as an illustration of the consequences of New York’s lax campaign finance laws, the Times insisted that this is the right time for the legislature to address the issue. While commending Governor Cuomo for including reform in his 2014-15 budget, the editorial argued that “he should be ready to campaign against any lawmaker, Democrat or Republican, who resists these crucial reforms.” The governor’s own fundraising practices demonstrate the problems inherent in the current system. Of the $33.3 million Cuomo has raised thus far, only 0.69 percent is from contributors donating less than $1,000 in total. This is in stark contrast to the pattern under New York City’s public funding system, which explains why the editorial referred to public funding of election campaigns as the “most important reform.”

New York City Elections Show Power of Small Donors

The last set of disclosure statements from the 2013 New York City election have been filed. A preliminary analysis of the data by the Campaign Finance Board demonstrates that public financing works well for New York City residents. The city provides a $6-to-$1 match for the first $175 of a contribution made by City residents. This turns a $100 donation into $700, ensuring that candidates focus on their constituents, not just special interests. In the 2013 election cycle, two-thirds of all contributions were from individual city residents. For City Council elections, 86.9 percent of contributions came from individuals donating $250 or less. And for city-wide offices, 64.2 percent of the contributions were from individuals donating $250 or less.  

Lane and Waldman in Newsday: New York Can Continue Theodore Roosevelt’s Reform Legacy

In a Newsday op-ed, Eric Lane, dean and professor at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, and Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, urged state legislators to pass Governor Cuomo’s campaign finance reform proposal. Back at the start of the 20th century, similar corruption scandals plagued Albany. Witnessing the culture of corruption in both Albany and Washington first hand, President and former New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt proposed bold reforms to the nation’s campaign finance laws. In a 1907 speech to Congress he called for public financing of elections to tame the power of special interests. Today Albany faces the same problem, and this time we have seen the solution work for decades. In New York City, matching small donations with public funds has increased competition and participation from small donors, as well as the socioeconomic diversity of campaign contributors. “In Roosevelt’s time, special interests fought hard to maintain the status quo, and the same is happening today. But Cuomo’s reforms could help permanently change how we finance campaigns. It’s an opportunity Cuomo and state lawmakers can’t afford to miss,” the op-ed stated.

Video Evidence Presented in Assemblyman Boyland’s Corruption Trail

Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. (D-Brooklyn) is currently being tried in federal court, and could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the bribery charges. A video played at the trial shows his father acting as an intermediary in the bribery scandal that has engulfed the legislator. An undercover agent posing as a businessman seeking permits for a carnival testified that the assemblyman’s father, William Boyland Sr., accepted a $3,000 payoff in exchange for a promise of assistance with the permit approval process. Boyland Sr. can be heard in the video saying “Alright, just legally, you know, you know, this is against the law, right?" Later Boyland Sr. deposited the check in Assemblyman Boyland Jr.’s reelection campaign account. Assemblyman Boyland Jr.’s staff later submitted to state officials a letter seeking approval for the carnival. Boyland Jr. has said that he never provided any assistance to the undercover agents trying to bribe him.