Money in New York Politics

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. This week’s links were contributed by Eric Petry.

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

NEW YORK

Despite Federal Indictments, State Senators Win Primaries

Three New York Senators – Thomas Libous, John Sampson, and Malcolm Smith – entered the primary election on Tuesday facing federal criminal charges. Despite these legal troubles, both Libous and Sampson managed to win their races by safe margins – 28 points and 25 points respectively. Smith, on the other hand, lost by more than 50 percentage points in a landslide. While it remains to be seen whether Libous and Sampson will win in the general election this November, the primary this week showed that the presence of pending criminal charges can be is not necessarily a death knell for New York legislators seeking reelection. Gubernatorial hopeful Zephyr Teachout made Albany corruption a primary campaign issue and garnered 34 percent of the vote, the highest of any primary challenge to a sitting governor since primaries were instituted in 1970.

Consultants Avoid Regulation as Lobbyists

New York politics is starting to see the emergence of a new group of political actors: non-lobbyist strategic consultants. These consultants function like lobbyists in terms of access and ties to politicians, but they are able to avoid registering as official lobbyists. Their unofficial status allows them to avoid disclosure requirements, as long as they do not “attempt to influence politicians.” While this practice technically falls within the law, it raises suspicions because of the inherent influence strategic consultants can possess. Jennifer Cunningham, for example, worked closely with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Governor Andrew Cuomo throughout her political career, helping to get them both elected in 2010. After they were elected, Ms. Cunningham deregistered as a lobbyist to “avoid even the appearance of a conflict” of interest and resigned her job at a top lobbying firm. In the role as a strategic consultant, which she has kept since 2010, however, Cunningham has continued to represent clients before the state government, working closely with Schneiderman on a consistent basis. So close, in fact, that the Attorney General’s office initially refused an open records request to provide communications between Schneiderman and Cunningham, claiming that the conversations fell under an exception for “intra-agency records” between state employees.

JCOPE Holds First-Ever Hearings

For the first time in its 20-month history, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics held a hearing to discuss specific allegations of lobbying law violations. While JCOPE has engaged in enforcement actions previously, none had ever proceeded far enough to reach a hearing. The hearing officer, former federal Judge George Pratt, recommended that the three entities found in violation of disclosure requirements – Blackboard, Inc., Community Redemption Center, and YL Management, L.L.C. – each receive fines between $4,000 and $10,000. 

Money in New York Politics

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. This week’s links were contributed by Syed Zaidi.

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

NEW YORK

Public Financing Trial Could Show Power of Small Donors

In a guest column for the Post-Standard, David Rubin, a former dean at Syracuse University, wrote that the trial public financing program for the state comptroller race presents an opportunity to demonstrate the power of small donors. Although current New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has declined to participate in public financing—citing concerns over the inadequate structure of the pilot program—his Republican challenger Robert Antonacci has said that he will op-in. Donations up to $175 by New Yorkers to Antonacci’s campaign will be matched with public funds at a 6-to-1 ratio, if he first qualifies by raising $200,000 including at least 2,000 small contributions. In return he will have to abide by spending limits and a $6,000 per person contribution restriction. Non-participating candidates running statewide, meanwhile, can accept up to $41,000 from a single donor. “Public financing empowers local donors who can actually vote for the candidate. It forces candidates to court us, one small donation at a time,” Rubin explained. And until state legislators pass reforms that apply to all races in the state, “we will get elected officials purchased for us by others, with the awful results we see in Albany and Washington.”

Major Issues Unresolved for Final Week of NY Legislative Session

With just one week left in the New York State legislative session, press outlets are predicting that few big-ticket issues, such as public campaign financing, the women’s equality agenda, medical marijuana or the Dream Act, will be resolved. Although Governor Andrew Cuomo has publicly vowed to campaign against the ruling coalition in the senate unless headway is made on some key issues, Democrats in the chamber are not optimistic about legislative progress. “Whether they allow certain things to get done, it’s up to them,” said Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in reference to the senate ruling coalition of Republicans and five breakaway Democrats. However, Senator Jeffrey Klein, the leader of the Independent Democratic Conference and Majority Co-leader of the chamber, did not rule out the possibility of public financing reform passing before the session is over. “We still have two weeks to govern,” he stated, “[t]he political season has not started yet as far as I’m concerned.”

Albany Times-Union: Bruno Acquittal Demonstrates Need for Reform

Last month, former New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was acquitted of corruption-related charges. Bruno allegedly accepted $20,000 per month in consulting fees from a businessman with a stake in Evident Technologies, according to prosecutors, and then subsequently approved a $250,000 state grant to the company. This did not qualify as corruption under federal law, the jury determined. The Times-Union said that the trial was a troubling demonstration that ethics and campaign finance laws need to be reformed in Albany. To “take money from somebody doing business with the state they can influence,” should be illegal, the newspaper wrote. And there should be more stringent restrictions on what campaign funds can be used for, along with significantly lower contribution limits.

Corruption Trial of New York Officials Brings New Revelations

The trial of New York State Senator Malcolm Smith has brought to light new evidence concerning his alleged scheme to become mayor of New York City. According to the FBI, Smith wanted to become the leader of the Senate Democrats, in an effort to raise his profile and subsequently run for the mayoral race in New York City. Smith asked Moses “Mark” Stern, a government informant posing as a businessman, to give him $27,000—money that was later to be dispersed to other senators to cement his influence. It “puts me in a better position to run for mayor than just being in the senate,” Smith told Stern. Following this, at a meeting between Stern, Smith and another FBI informant, Smith asked the men for their help in persuading three of the five Republican County Chairmen to authorize his mayoral candidacy on the Republican Party line. Smith sought to do this by bribing the officials, prosecutors allege, using former New York City Councilman Dan Halloran as his middle-man.

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

New York Times: Most Fundamental Reform Missing from State Budget

Governor Andrew Cuomo and state legislative leaders passed New York’s 2014-15 budget last week without a comprehensive small donor public matching system—instead establishing a very limited pilot public financing program for the state comptroller’s race in 2014. Adding to this lapse in leadership, Governor Cuomo said he will disband the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, labeling the narrow ethics reforms in the budget a triumph. This was an especially disappointing development in light of the myriad of corruption scandals that engulfed several legislators in recent years, including three of the last five Senate Majority Leaders or Co-leaders. Newspapers throughout the state saw through the spin. The New York Times opined that the budget’s inadequate ethics reforms do not “come close to attacking the root of the corruption problem” in Albany. “The most fundamental reform,” the Times continued, namely public matching funds for small donations in all state races, “is missing.” 

Syracuse Post-Standard: Public Financing “Pilot” Program a Cop-out

The Syracuse Post-Standard reiterated the shortfalls of the 2014-15 New York budget in an editorial last week. Calling restricting public financing to the comptroller’s office a “cop-out,” the upstate newspaper said that New York City’s successful model demonstrates that a “pilot” program is unnecessary. If such a system would have been implemented, it could have enabled candidates who can’t garner big checks from special interests to compete with small dollar donations from constituents. Unfortunately for now, the status quo, which allows incumbents to build up their war chest to scare off any potential competitors, remains intact.

Albany Times-Union: State Elected Officials Failed to Address NY’s “Most Glaring Failure”

On Tuesday, the Albany Times-Union termed Governor Cuomo’s failure to pass comprehensive ethics reform the state government’s “most glaring failure.” Last year, the Moreland Commission—which the governor appointed to examine New York’s corruption and campaign finance laws—issued a thorough report detailing the legal and ethical breaches that have become so commonplace in Albany over the past few years. In response to the inadequacy of the current system to address pay-to-play politics, the commission recommended several reforms including public funding to match small donations. Unfortunately, Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders “concluded that reform is appropriate only on a very small scale, and only as long as it doesn’t apply to themselves.” The outcome is surprising considering that most legislators, as well as the governor, claimed to support full public financing for all races.

Crain’s New York Business: Ethics Deal Does Little to Deter Corruption

On April 4, Crain’s New York Business criticized New York lawmakers for their inability to deliver on ethics reform. “At least 30 [state legislators] have left office since 1999 because of transgressions ranging from inflating their expenses to sexual harassment to taking bribes,” the editorial stated. Yet the reform provision in the budget made only minor changes to state corruption laws and delegated slightly greater enforcement authority to the state Board of Elections. It did nothing to address the problem of legislators pushing bills or steering funds at the request of special interests and campaign contributors. The decision to eliminate the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption was especially troubling, Crain’s said—just as the investigators “had dug their teeth into a plethora of questionable dealings.”

Upstate Newspapers: Ethics Reforms Insufficient to Address Corruption

The Rochester-based Democrat & Chronicle called Governor Cuomo’s inability to pass comprehensive campaign finance reform his administration’s “most notable first-term failure.” The alternative to public financing for all races—a limited measure for the state comptroller election in 2014—was too little and too late, given the election year. The Buffalo News concurred, saying the plan was a “laughingstock.” The dysfunctional state Board of Elections is inadequately prepared to implement a public financing program for the comptroller’s office this election cycle. Moreover, sky-high campaign contribution limits, and loopholes for special interests hoping to get noticed by politicians, are still the norm in Albany for the foreseeable future. Overall, the budget bill was not a compromise for anyone, it was a disappointment.

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

Senator Warren Prods New York to Pass Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform

Last week, at St. Peter’s Church in New York City, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman gave rousing speeches touching on campaign finance reform. Senator Warren explained the connection between the country’s broken campaign finance laws and growing income inequality. “We’ve got a government that works all too well for the rich and the powerful, and all too little for everyone else,” Warren said. She insisted that campaign finance reform should be a top priority for New York State. “Your governor has said, ‘Let’s attack money in politics head-on. Let’s go for campaign finance reform,’” Warren stated. “All I can say is go, go, go, GO!” Attorney General Schneiderman praised Governor Andrew Cuomo for including a public financing proposal in the budget. “The fact that the [public campaign finance] coalition was powerful enough to get the language included in the budget was a huge breakthrough,” Schneiderman said. However, he emphasized that constituents must keep the pressure on the governor and the legislature in the coming months in order to get it passed.

Public Financing Can Restore Public’s Trust in Elected Officials

In the Times-Union last Thursday, NY LEAD member and chairwoman of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, Cynthia DiBartolo, and executive director of Citizen Action, Karen Scharff, authored an op-ed urging New Yorkers to help make campaign finance reform a reality in the state. Now that Governor Andrew Cuomo has included comprehensive election reform in his executive budget, the only obstacle that remains is the leadership in the Senate. Senate Co-leader Dean Skelos has voiced his opposition to the reform because it would allow candidates to qualify for public matching funds if they meet certain qualifying criteria. However, another prominent Republican, Onondaga county district attorney Bill Fitzpatrick—who is investigating public corruption in the state as the co-chair of the Moreland Commission—thinks public financing would be an excellent use of public money, leading to long-term savings for taxpayers. Despite representing very different organizations, both authors agreed that public financing can help “restore the public’s trust that our elected officials are really listening to New Yorkers.”

Democrat and Chronicle: Cuomo Must Continue Reform’s Momentum

A Democrat and Chronicle editorial on Monday pressed Governor Cuomo to continue the push for campaign finance reform through the remainder of the session. While praising Cuomo for including the proposal in his executive budget, the editorial insisted that the effort requires “far more attention.” Recent polls demonstrate that the vast majority of New Yorkers favor the proposal. A December report by the state’s anti-corruption commission highlighted the problems with the current system: poor oversight, high contribution limits, and extensive loopholes for major donors. It is no surprise that more than half a dozen state lawmakers were engulfed in scandals last legislative session. “Ultimately, if he’s serious on this front, the governor will need to prove it by making additional ethics reforms a priority this year,” the editorial concluded.

Rep. Grimm’s Actions Call Attention to Campaign Finance Scandal

U.S. Representative Michael Grimm’s (R-NY) recent on-camera altercation with a reporter has brought questions regarding his campaign finances to the forefront of public scrutiny. In an interview following President Obama’s State of the Union address, Grimm threatened to throw a reporter off the Capitol balcony for asking questions about a campaign finance scandal. The reporter was referring to the arrest of Grimm’s fundraiser Diana Durand by the FBI for allegedly contributing more than $10,000 to Grimm’s 2010 campaign via straw donors. In an earlier scandal in 2012, the New York Times reported that Grimm asked for campaign donations from undocumented immigrants. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has requested that the Office of Congressional Ethics investigate whether Grimm’s behavior with the reporter violates House Rules. In 2012, CREW singled out Grimm as one of the 13 most corrupt members of Congress.

NATIONAL

Republican Governors Association Raises Record Funds for 2014

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) announced this week that it raised $50 million in 2013 in preparation for the 2014 election cycle. Thirty-six states have gubernatorial races coming up this fall, the most in any one year since 2009 – and last year’s fundraising total was 66 percent higher than 2009’s.  The RGA spent $35 million on television ads and PAC donations in 2012, making it the top outside spender at the state level, and, in 2010, it spent more than the five largest conservative super PACs and 501(c) groups combined. A Mother Jones analysis of the RGA’s election spending strategies shows the RGA using a network of state level PACs to shuffle money through different states, which has the potential to obscure the identity of its donors and circumvent local campaign finance laws.    

Conservative Author, Director Indicted for Alleged Illegal Campaign Contributions

Dinesh D’Souza, an author and documentary director known for his criticisms of President Obama, was indicted last Thursday on charges of making illegal campaign contributions.  The indictment alleges that D’Souza directed $20,000 in campaign contributions to a 2012 Senate candidate, violating the Fair Election Campaign Act’s limitations on an individual’s contribution to any one candidate to $2,500 during the primary and general campaign.  D’Souza allegedly funneled the contributions through “straw donors,” telling associates to make campaign contributions that he later reimbursed. Sen. Ted Cruz (R – Tex.) and others have claimed that the indictment is political retribution for D’Souza’s criticism of Obama.

More Montana Candidates Accused of Campaign Violations in 2010 Elections

The Montana state commissioner of political practices, Jonathan Motl, has ruled that two 2010 legislative candidates, Joel Boniek and Terry Bannon, illegally coordinated attack ads with an outside spending group and took unreported in-kind donations of costs associated with producing and distributing mailings. Motl previously issued findings against three other candidates for campaign violations in 2010, and says that additional candidates will be implicated in forthcoming rulings. All rulings involve illegal contributions from and candidate coordination with a non-profit corporation, Western Tradition Partnership (WTP) and its affiliated direct mail services.  WTP claimed to be an educational group, but a state judge ruled last year that it acted as a political committee and must therefore disclose its donors and spending. A former attorney for the group claims that the group is no longer active, and WTP has not responded to any of Motl’s rulings. According to Motl, “It’s the candidates who are going to bear the primary social debt for these actions. I’m not certain the non-candidate actors are going to be around.”

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

Gov. Cuomo Proposes Public Financing of Elections in State of the State Address

In his annual State of the State address on Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo outlined his vision for New York, including a bold proposal for comprehensive ethics reform. With the stated goal of restoring trust in state government, Cuomo recommended public financing, a new anti-bribery statute, independent enforcement at the Board of Elections and disclosure of outside clients doing business with the state. In the 2014 State of State handbook which accompanied the speech, the governor detailed these as well as other reform initiatives, emphasizing that matching small donations with public funds would give “voice to small donors” and “help enable a diverse pool of candidates with substantial grassroots support, but little access to large donors, to run competitive campaigns.” Good-government groups commended Governor Cuomo’s reforms package and remain optimistic that it will pass. “This kind of reform is never easy, it’s the Legislature imposing new restrictions on itself, but we’re as close as we’ve ever been in New York,” Lawrence Norden, deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center, said.

Albany Times-Union Editorial Tells Cuomo to Back Rhetoric With Action

On Thursday, the editorial board of the Albany Times-Union praised Governor Andrew Cuomo for his endorsement of campaign finance reform in the State of the State address, but cautioned that the rhetoric must be backed up by action. If last year’s bribery scandals were any indication, corruption has become rampant in the Albany. State elections remain uncompetitive, with the current rules favoring incumbents with big campaign chests over new challengers. Combined with inadequate enforcement of even the paltry campaign finance laws already on the books, it is not surprising that so many politicians thought they were above the law last year. New York needs comprehensive reform: lower contribution limits, an independent enforcement agency, no more loopholes, and most importantly a system of matching small contributions with public funds. “Mr. Cuomo has shown that he can push contentious measures through the Legislature — like gun control and marriage equality,” the editorial noted. It remains to be seen whether the Governor and the Legislature have to will to pass reforms to address the epidemic of corruption.

Scharff in Buffalo News: Reduce Influence of Special Interests by Matching Small Donations With Public Funds

Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action, penned an op-ed in the Buffalo News over the Holidays, encouraging New Yorkers to combat the pay-to-play culture prevalent in Albany. As a reformer with 30 years of experience in Albany, Scharff criticized the outsized influence that moneyed interests have over the legislative process on nearly every single issue. In return for large donations, special interests frequently expect favorable legislation such as tax credits and deductions. However, this year, with the start of the new legislative session, New Yorkers have the opportunity to mend this broken system. The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption has outlined proposals to help reshape state corruption and campaign finance laws. If reform legislation can be passed that allows small donations to be matched with public funds, then candidates would become less dependent on big donors and more so on their constituents. “Whatever it is you think state government should or shouldn’t be doing, with public financing you have a much better chance of having your voice and your neighbors’ voices heard and not drowned out by big money,” Scharff said.

NATIONAL

Colorado Hearings: Can a Political Party Set Up a Super PAC?

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office is holding hearings this week on a Colorado Republican Party (CRP) petition for a formal determination on whether a political party’s super PAC can accept unlimited contributions. The Colorado Republican Party (CRP) first set up its own super PAC, the Colorado Republican Party Independent Expenditure Committee, in August 2012. Under current practice, a political party’s independent expenditure committee must abide by campaign contribution limits. In an attempt to evade these limits in the 2014 election, the CRP petition argues that its PAC will be independent from the party, with no CRP members having “any degree of management or control over the development of any of the plans, projects, activities, or expenditures” of the super PAC. The Colorado Ethics Watch has filed a petition opposing the CRP’s request. The Ethics Watch petition argues that any rules on political party independent expenditures must conform to Colorado’s limitations and source prohibitions on general contributions to political parties.

Congressional Committee Leaders Receiving More Donations from Regulated Industries

A Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington report found an increase in campaign contributions to Congressional committee leaders from the industries that they regulate. The report examined industry’s campaign contributions to the chairmen and ranking members of ten House committees in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. Of the chairmen and ranking members examined, 80% receive an increasing portion of their campaign contributions from industries that they regulate. The lawmakers concerned saw a 10% total growth in campaign contributions between the two cycles, but a 24% growth in contributions from relevant industries. These industry contribution trends are true across party lines, and are extremely responsive to changes in a member’s committee standing. For example, when Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) replaced Rep. George Miller (D-Cal.) as head of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in 2011, the education industry’s contributions to Kline tripled while dropping contributions to Miller by over 50 percent.

2014 Brings New Legislative Plans to Defund Public Financing in Arizona

Last month, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that higher campaign contribution limits passed by the state legislature do not violate state law protecting voter-approved laws. Supporters of the Citizens Clean Elections Act, a public financing system passed by statewide referendum in 1998, believe that the higher campaign limits violate voters’ intents to limit campaign donations. Opponents to the Citizens Clean Elections system believe that the new limits do not go far enough in dismantling public financing. Two Arizona legislators have announced plans to pursue a rollback or repeal of the Citizens Clean Elections system in 2014.  Rep. J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) is proposing an outright repeal of the public financing system. Rep. Paul Boyer (R-Phoenix) wants to put a measure on the 2014 ballot asking voters to redirect the money funding the public financing system, largely from surcharges on criminal, civil, and traffic fines, to the education system. Boyer introduced a similar proposal last year, but it did not have enough support to come up for a vote in the Senate.