Progressive Democrat Issue 67: NY STATE FOCUS

Take Action to Level the Playing Field in NYS Elections

Reform of NY State politics is critical. Here is a step in the right direction. From Common Cause:

On Monday, March 6th, Common Cause/NY released a comprehensive new study on the cost of elections in New York State entitled, The $2,100 Club: What New York State Campaigns Cost, How Much Those Costs are Rising and Who's Footing the Bill.

You can download the full report here.

Our report highlighted some disturbing facts: Campaigns in New York are expensive and getting more so every year. The cost of a winning gubernatorial campaign has almost quadrupled since 1986, and has actually increased eight-fold since 1990. And it's not average New Yorkers who are funding these campaigns. In fact, less than 1% of New Yorkers made a direct campaign contribution in the 2004 legislative election cycle. Even more astonishing is that over 55% of the campaign contributions made by individuals in New York would have been illegal on the federal level because they came in for amounts exceeding the federal individual contribution limit of $2,100.

The rising cost of campaigns is driven mostly by the usual suspects - in 2002 the two greatest categories of expenses in the gubernatorial race were TV and radio ads - but our report also highlighted some unusual suspects. In the 2004 legislative elections, payments in the nebulous "other" category represented the single greatest expense for candidates.

This fact points to the pervasive practice of state-level candidates using their campaign funds for things that stretch the definition of "campaign expense" beyond any plausible limit. For example, we found that Senator Marty Connor spent over $70,000 of his campaign funds on purchases related to a car that he also bought with campaign funds.

The fact that campaigns in our state are being financed by a combination of special interests and an elite group of individuals who are able to give in amounts that far exceed the ability of most New Yorkers should give pause to any New Yorker who cares about democracy in our state. Furthermore, the fact that candidates are able to exploit our weak laws and spend campaign funds on personal uses allows special interests to make an end-run around our gift restrictions and support the lifestyles of candidates.

It's time to take action. Please email Senator Majority Leader Joseph Bruno at bruno@senate.state.ny.us and Assembly Speaker Silver at speaker@assembly.state.ny.us to let them know that a total overhaul of our campaign finance laws must be a priority for our state this year.

Reforms that lawmakers should embrace include, among other things, a ban on soft money, a reduction in New York's sky-high contribution limits, a ban on candidates putting campaign contributions to personal use and public financing of elections. Please review our report and take action by emailing the legislative leaders today!

Thank you for all you do for Common Cause in New York!