NY Campaign Finance:

1. Today, over 100 organizations that support Fair Elections for New York wrote Governor Cuomo detailing the need for publicly financed campaigns, lower contribution limits, and better enforcement. The civil rights, business, faith, grassroots community, good government, environmental, and labor organizations who signed the letter, thanked the Governor for his strong support and expressed their enthusiasm to work with him and members of the Legislature to pass publicly financed elections and other campaign finance reforms during this legislative session.

2. Despite the annual $150,000 contribution limit by individuals to candidates in New York, luxury-apartment mogul Leonard Litwin gave almost $700,000 to candidates in 2011. A study by the New York Public Interest Research Group revealed that Litwin was the biggest individual donor in the state. Litwin was able to dodge the state’s campaign finance laws by utilizing the limited liability company (LLC) loophole, which allows companies to contribute multiple times through affiliated LLC’s, even when the LLC is completely controlled by a corporation or individual who has already reached the maximum contribution limit.

3. Governor Cuomo spoke with reporters about the need for public financing and campaign finance reform after participating in a fundraising event for the Democratic Governors Association. “One of the things we have to work on is getting money out of politics,” Cuomo said. In response to a reporter’s question about the meeting, Cuomo replied, “Your issue of, ‘You are in a room where people contribute money’ — that is the current state of politics and that is (the case for) every elected official in every fundraising forum.”

4. Manuel Ortega, law chairman of the Staten Island Democratic Party, filed a complaint with the FEC against Republican Representative Michael Grimm. The complaint alleges excessive and illegal cash contributions. A key fundraiser of Grimm’s is now being investigated for embezzling millions of dollars from a rabbi’s congregation. According to the New York Times story that Ortega used as the basis for his FEC complaint, unnamed followers allege that Grimm sought donations over the legal limit, and that he sought those donations in cash and from undocumented aliens.

5. The Democrat and Chronicle calls for Governor Cuomo to follow through on his election promises for public financing and campaign finance reform. The newspaper notes that “the governor continues to say the right things” and urges him to “prod the Legislature to deliver.”

Other News Nationwide:

1. In his State of the Union address, President Obama spoke about the “corrosive influence of money in politics.” He called for “a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress,” places limits on incumbents’ ability to own stocks in industries they impact, and restricts the ability of bundlers to lobby Congress.

2. The New York Times editorializes that under the federal lobbying law, “Newt Gingrich can legitimately claim that he is not a lobbyist.” The paper stated that Gingrich had “made a great deal of money in Washington peddling his influence, while carefully staying about half-an-inch short of the legal definition of lobbyist.” The paper calls for a better law limiting lobbyist activity and promoting disclosure. Part of the problem is that many Members of Congress use the revolving door—more than 400 former members have become lobbyists or consultants in the last decade.

3. In Massachusetts, Senator Scott Brown and likely Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren agreed on a plan to stop outside groups from running negative ads. The agreement “requires each side to donate to a charity of the other’s choosing” when benefiting from a third-party ad, and also requires each side to write to outside groups and television station managers requesting a cease-fire. Brown, who is up for re-election to a full term, said that third-party ads “spend millions of dollars from anonymous donors portraying their opposition unfairly and misleading voters.” The question now is whether the agreement is enforceable.

4, In Montana, the State Supreme Court upheld by a 5-2 vote a law banning corporations from making political expenditures. A New York Times editorial praised the Montana Supreme Court, stating that “in Citizens United, the conservative majority turned itself into a copper kings’ court.” The majority rejected Justice Kennedy’s “misguided reasoning” that money does not “give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” The court’s dissenters, however, argued that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision dictates the opposite result, and warned that the Supreme Court would not allow Montana to ignore precedent.

The letter, signed by 118 civil rights, business, faith, grassroots community, good government, environmental, and labor organizations, is an indication of the broad support for this critical reform that will stand up against the massive influence of money in our political system.

After Governor Cuomo’s recent State of the State address, a Siena poll showed that 74% of New Yorkers support Fair Elections as a way to foster small donor participation in campaigns.

In the letter, the groups expressed their enthusiasm to work with Governor Cuomo and members of the Legislature to pass publicly financed elections and other campaign finance reforms during this legislative session.

Fair Elections for New York

Click here to read AQE’s report

“When we invest in learning for our youngest children, we’re guaranteeing the best return on investment for our community. Study after study has shown that providing our children with quality Pre-K helps to ensure their future success, getting them ready for kindergarten, college, and careers. As the mother of a child who has attended Pre-K, I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact that these programs have. We call on our elected officials to expand funding for Pre-K, giving our kids the opportunity they need to become the future leaders of New York,” said Citizen Action Board President, Ivette Alfonso, at the Albany press conference.

Take action!

Click here for AQE’s regional data on state aid

Click here for our photo gallery

Press Coverage

Video of Board President Ivette Alfonso

New York should raise needed revenue and restore fairness to the tax code by reforming our state corporate tax structure and closing a variety of corporate tax loopholes to make sure small business and big business play by the same rules, and that higher profits are taxed at reasonably higher rates.

Last year’s effort to make the PIT more progressive and more fair should continue in 2012 by reforming corporate taxes to close loopholes, end costly and ineffective tax subsidies, and fix shortcomings that unnecessarily reduce tax collections and limit resources needed to maintain and invest in the infrastructure, services and educated workforce that foster long-term economic growth.

From the press release:

A recently released report from Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economy Polciy entitled, ‘Tax Dodging in the 50 States,’ found that many highly profitable companies are paying very little in state corporate income taxes throughout the country. The report also shows that many NYS based companies like Travelers, American Express, Verizon, Goldman Sachs and Rupert Murdoch’s news Corporation are paying a lower tax rate than the average New York family of four with an income of $58,000 a year.

A broad ranging coalition of community, labor, faith and Occupy groups have a plan to reform New York’s corporate tax structure that is focused on three main principles: enforcement, fairness, and transparency. The plan includes:

• Requiring real estate partnerships to pay the taxes they owe
• Reforming New York’s Corporate Alternate Minimum Tax
• Taxing nonresident hedge fund management fees
• Eliminating the Carried Interest Exemption under New York City’s Unincorporated Business tax
• Cracking down on schemes that create “nowhere income”
• Requiring public disclosure of corporate tax payments for publicly-traded companies

Click here to see our photo gallery from the event

The Verizon Corporation has been identified as one of the country’s worst tax evaders, paying no corporate taxes while having made over $32.5 billion in profits between 2008 and 2010, and receiving a $951 million tax rebate from the federal government.

In fact, they’ve spent more money lobbying than they have paid in taxes. Billions more, actually.

If Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams cheated in a game of poker, he’d forfeit his chips. If he cheated on a spelling test, he’d get an automatic F. If he cheated in a baseball game, he’d lose by default. If he cheated on his significant other, he’d be single. Why, then, is Verizon permitted by law to what amounts to cheating on their taxes?

A government should represent the people. Instead, our government represents a super-wealthy minority with the financial means to control an entire nation’s political process. We can thank our current campaign finance system for bloated corporations like Verizon (remember when they tried to force those concessions on their employees?), and the wealth disparity they have created.

Corporations like Verizon lobby for tax loopholes that let them dodge their taxes. This leaves them with mountains of extra cash, which they use to buy candidates. Because of our current political climate, candidates can’t afford not to sell their campaigns to corporations. Verizon CEO Lowell C. McAdam knows very well that if a politician hopes to compete in an election, they have to accept his massive donation. That candidate effectively becomes Lowell’s lap dog, cementing loopholes that allow massive corporations to continue evading taxes.

Public financing of elections would work to fix this. A candidate in a publicly financed election would not have to bow to pressure from big donors. Lower contribution limits and better enforcement would take big money’s influence out of politics.

To quote President Obama’s State of the Union, we “can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by — or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

Until we take the money out of politics, corporations like Verizon will continue to enjoy sweetheart deals and tax loopholes, while the gap between rich and poor continues to grow.

Sign our petition that we made today, urging Verizon to pay their fair share of taxes.

The show begins at 2pm on January 26th. Click here to listen to the show!

This court decision fundamentally changed America’s electoral process and tilted the playing field for any firm doing business in the US.

Ms. Revesz will be interviewing:

• Harvard Law Professor John Coates to show how political spending impacts shareholder wealth
• The Center for Political Accountability’s Bruce Freed, who convinces firms to commit to transparency and accountability in political spending.
• Jeff Merritt, who will show how public pension fund trustees like the NYC Public Advocate are all protecting shareholders.

Ms. Revesz will also discuss ways shareholders or mutual fund owners can help make companies they’ve invested in more transparent and accountable in their political spending.

Whether your firm makes campaign contributions, your competitors do, or you’re directly affected by campaign contributions, you don’t want to miss this week’s show.

The show begins at 2pm on January 26th.  Click here to listen to the show!

Can’t listen then? Don’t worry. It will be archived here, where you can listen at your own convenience.

Verizon contributed heavily to the Republican Senate campaign committee; it did not send funds to the Senate Democrats. In December, Senate Democratic leader John Sampson, who in the past received $6,500 to his campaign from Verizon, and co-counsel Ravi Batra, a lawyer appointed by Sampson to the new state ethics committee, sued Verizon on behalf of In Touch Concepts, on whose board they serve.

To us, this says it all. Here is a blatant example of the 1% buying our politicians and using them for their own benefit without a care in the world about rest of New Yorkers. How can we expect our representatives to work for our best interests when they have to consider the possibility of losing these large contributions every time they make any sort of decision? This is not how our democracy should work. It should not be up for auction to the highest bidder – it should work for everyone.

The solution is pretty simple: remove these large sums of money from the equation and empower the voter. Just because you have a thicker wallet shouldn’t make your vote more important.

Cross-posted from the Brennan Center.

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

NY Campaign Finance News

1. Gov. Cuomo renewed his support for public campaign financing in New York in his recent State of the State address, calling on the legislature to send him a comprehensive campaign finance reform bill that includes public financing for state and legislative elections. The official text of Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State address can be found here.

2. As Nick Nyhart writes in the Huffington Post, New Yorkers support the public financing of campaigns by wide margin. A new poll conducted by the Siena Research Institute showsoverwhelming support for public financing and lower contribution limits: a full 74% of those polled are in favor of public financing of state elections. Siena’s press release highlights campaign finance reform as one of the three proposals in the governor’s address that garnered the most support. The full results can be downloadedhere.

3. The Lower Hudson Journal News has joined the latest call for campaign finance reform in New York, mentioning Gov. Cuomo’s backing of public financing of elections in his State of the State, and quoting a election official on the notorious laxity of the state’s campaign finance regime: “Unless you out-and-out stick it in your pocket and walk away, everything’s legal.” The editorial also cites a long litany of former elected officials who have dipped into their campaign accounts—often to pay attorneys hired to handle their legal troubles—for years after they stopped running for public office.

4. The Utica Observer-Dispatch issued a similar editorial on Wednesday, praising Gov. Cuomo for his remarks on public financing in his State of the State, and citing the Campaign Finance Institute on the many incentives that voluntary public financing creates for small donors.

5. NBC New York singled out Gov. Cuomo’s call for public campaign financing as a key point in his address, noting that 24 states already have some form of public financing for elections, that only a fraction of New York’s 19 million residents currently contribute to campaigns, and that campaign finance reform has been a crucial issue since the Pataki era.

6. Likewise, NPR’s New York affiliate reported on a new study by the Campaign Finance Institute, which found that New York is “dead last” in terms of political donations by the public—less than one half of one percent of the state’s population makes campaign contributions for state or legislative elections. Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State address cited the CFI’s research, which is available on the CFI website.

7. Union leaders have rallied around Gov. Cuomo’s promise to back public campaign financing, issuing a joint letter on behalf of the UAW (United Auto Workers), CWA (Communication Workers of America), and SEIU (Service Employees International Union) to express their support. “To have a truly just and equal society, we must have elections that reflect the will of the people, not theprivilege of the wealthy few,” the letter states in part. “We need public funding of elections to achieve this goal.”

National Campaign Finance News

8. Citizens United is “the worst campaign finance decision in Supreme Court history,” according to an op-ed by Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21 in Politico, in large part because it has unleashed an unprecedented wave of special-interest spending through the creation of super PACs. The op-ed emphasizes the need for a small-donor matching funds system that puts ordinary citizens at the forefront of campaign fundraising, among other legislative remedies such as better disclosure laws, a prohibition on candidate-specific super PACs, and the creation of a stronger enforcement agency to replace the failed FEC.

9. Mitt Romney’s repeated endorsement of Florida’s “Full Sail University,” a for-profit college whose curriculum includes an $80,000 program in “video game art,” has raised some eyebrows after revelations that Full Sail’s chief executive, Bill Heavener, is a major donor to Romney’s campaign as well as the super PAC run by Romney’s former aides. The New York Times also recounts how “Winning the Future,” the super PAC that shores up Newt Gingrich’s campaign, recently received a $5 million lifeline from billionaire casino owner and longtime Gingrich supporter Sheldon Adelson.

Click here to download the crosstabs.

Click here to download Siena’s press release.

Here is Karen’s statement in response:

Siena Shows Public Financing of Elections Has Huge Support Among New Yorkers

Albany, NY – In response to the Siena poll just released that showed overwhelming support for critical campaign finance reforms among New Yorkers, Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York, said:

There’s no question that New Yorkers are sick and tired of our democracy being bought by the 1%, but now we know that most New Yorkers agree with Governor Cuomo on how to limit that influence: through public financing of elections and lower campaign contribution limits. Today’s Siena poll proves that regardless of political ideology, people don’t want their voices weakened by CEO campaign contributors.

As we celebrate Dr. King and his movement that dismantled so many barriers to democratic participation, we must realize that until we create an electoral system where people can run for office without having access to wealthy campaign donors, many will continue to be kept out of their democracy.

With Governor Cuomo’s strong support, and the growing movement against money in politics, this year New York can and will achieve elections by and for the 99%

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Yesterday, over 500 parents, students along with their labor and Occupy allies converged on the Capitol for First Things First 2012 – a rally and speak out where they voiced their grievances and concerns with school aid cuts that have led to the layoffs of thousands of teachers and increased class sizes.

The event, organized by the Alliance for Quality Education, started off with a rally on the Millionaire Dollar Staircase in the Capitol as people from across New York – from Rochester to New York City to Long Island – held a spirited singalong before proceeding to the Legislative Office Building.

Inside the Hamilton Hearing Room, we conducted a speak-out where parents and community leaders urged Governor Cuomo and the Legislature to include the New York State Board of Regents’ proposal to increase aid for high-need schools and increase funding for Pre-Kindergarten education in his Executive Budget for 2012-13.

Several members of the Assembly spoke, including Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver who kicked us off. “The most powerful lobbying group for our students is their parents. This is beyond dispute,” he said in response to Governor Cuomo’s statement in his State of the State address that he was going to become a lobbyist for students. (Read his full remarks here.)

After the speak-out in the hearing room, people went to lunch where activists from Occupy Buffalo performed a small skit and other students talked about how the school aid cuts led to layoffs of their favorite teachers and faculty members. During lunch, parents made visits to the different legislative offices, dropping off literature outlining the importance of enacting the Board of Regents’ proposal and how closing corporate tax loopholes would help with restoring the deep cuts that our public schools have suffered from. (Click here to see the literature.)

Other Assemblymembers who spoke include Catherine Nolan, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, Assemblyman Kareem Camara, chair of New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, Phil Ramos, Guillermo Linares, Addie Russell and Sam Roberts.

Other speakers include: John Jackson, President and CEO of the Schott Foundation; Nikki Jones, Communications Director for the Alliance for Quality Education; Nicole Felter, Hudson Valley BOCES; Yudelka Valdez, President of NYC PTA; Jackie Hayes, an adjunct instructor at the University at Albany and organizer with Save Our SUNY and New York Students Rising; and several parents and students from across the state.

Here is video of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver addressing the crowd, with an introduction by Alliance for Quality Education Executive Director, Billy Easton:

Here is the video of John Jackson, President and CEO of the Schott Foundation: