Yesterday, New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli signed an executive order that would prevent firms from doing business with the state pension fund if the firm makes a donation to the Comptroller or candidates running for Comptroller. The ban on doing business would last for two years from the time of the contribution.
Comptroller DiNapoli has long been doing his part for fixing New York’s broken campaign finance system – a system of ‘pay-to-play’ in which political donations hold significant power over legislation and, in turn, taxpayer dollars.
In May, DiNapoli wrote in an op-ed published in the Buffalo News:
In New York State, money means votes. It’s time to change that equation. And at the end of the day, New Yorkers would get real value for their public campaign dollars. Elected officials would make better decisions without undue influence of large campaign contributions. New York can’t afford projects that keep campaign donors happy but don’t serve the public interest.
Alas, the Comptroller isn’t empowered to change the equation himself.
Although incremental reforms to the current system – fixing one part of the problem at a time – are something we certainly support, it’s about time that our legislature does what really needs to be done: creating a fixed and equal amount of public funding with which candidates can run their political campaigns.
Whether its the comptroller who is dealing with millions in the pension fund, a governor who deals with state contracts, or the legislature that creates laws that effect big business and the people, money has the ability to carry great influence. The only answer is a system of public financing of elections.
And this year, we were close. On June 9th, the Senate Elections Committee was poised to pass a Clean Elections bill, that would have proceed to the floor of the Senate before the end of the session. This would have been the farthest step taken yet toward ending a culture of corruption that has haunted Albany for decades. But… on June 8th, billionaire Tom Golisano stepped in with his Paychex fortune and bought the Senate. For a month, the Senate was unable to do business and a truly beneficial, real, far-reaching reform that would have saved millions and restored public trust was pushed by the wayside. (And Golisano said he did what he did because the Senate needed reform).
Well, this year isn’t over. It’s not too late for the Governor and Legislature to pass a program that would allow candidates for State Comptroller in 2010 to use a system of public financing of elections. And they should do so before the spring when 2010 campaigns get into full swing. Comptroller DiNapoli has made it very clear that he is more than willing to use a system of public financing as a test run in 2010.
Public approval of the state legislature is very low. And polls are showing that even incumbency may not be the key to guaranteed reelection for Senators that it once was.
Here’s our message to members of the Senate and Assembly: if you want to restore the public trust, if you want to bring integrity back to your chambers, you can do it by passing public financing of elections.