Major overhaul leading to statewide public funding of elections in discussions of campaign finance reform pushed in NY by Governor Andrew Cuomo

“I support an aggressive form of campaign finance, I support a public finance system… import the New York City public finance system to New York State.”

– NY Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 8, 2013

There is another push on this year to strike at the heart of corruption by getting big money out of politics…and this time the Governor is taking a more active role. In fact President Obama is even getting in the fight to pass the Fair Elections bill. A progressive coalition will highlight the importance of legislative action in the post-budget session in Albany to counteract the power of big corporate money and empower the people of New York. They will be joined by members of the New York State Assembly and Senate, and will hear from progressive leaders from here in New York and across the United States who are leading the fight for reform.

There are two opportunities for you to get involved in the next few weeks to help win this important fight.

1. Wednesday April 3rd: Rally / Town Hall On The Fair Elections Fight

SEIU Auditorium

310 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10036

Speakers include:

Ben Jealous, NAACP
Phil Radford, Greenpeace
George Gresham, 1199SEIU

And other labor, tenant, and community leaders:

I’ve created a MoveOn event for this here:
https://pol.moveon.org/event/progressivecommunitybuild/137828

2. House Parties To Mobilize Activists

We are also planning house parties starting the week of 4/8. We’ll be hosting one here in Bay Ridge on 4/17. You can find the event page here:

https://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=137830

We’re hoping that some of you may be interested in hosting your own house party or event. If you are going to set up your own event please let us know and we will included it in the email and promotions we’ll be sending to councils in the NYC area.

Message from your host, Jamie K.: Are you sick and tired of elections being controlled by big money CEOs and lobbyists? Do you think that issues like education, health care, jobs, and the environment would be addressed if politicians didn’t have to raise all their campaign cash from greedy interests? Then I need you to come to this party. And I need your help in convincing our State Senator Marty Golden that he needs to support Fair Elections too!

This will be one of more than 100 house parties for Fair Elections across the State. We’ll write letters, call our elected officials, and build momentum for the cause, all while having a great time with friends! Join us!

What are Fair Elections?

We all agree that New York’s campaign financed system is broken. While most of New York’s elected officials go to Albany for the right reasons, too often big money interests drown out the voices of everyday New Yorkers. It’s time to change the way politics works in Albany.

The Fair Elections for New York campaign is calling on state legislators to pass a comprehensive reform package, including public financing of elections. These reforms will put the process back in the hands of voters, and are proven to increase small donor participation in campaigns. We have an historic opportunity to give New Yorkers the campaign finance system they deserve and want. Albany should join Governor Cuomo to restore our trust in government by passing Fair Elections reform this legislative session.

You can learn more about the Fair Elections fight here: https://www.fairelectionsny.org/

A Huffington Post article added the following:

The reorganized Obama campaign, now called Organizing for Action, is jumping into the New York state legislative effort, pushed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), to pass campaign finance reform that would include public financing of candidates. As first reported by Politico, the nonprofit OFA will send an email to its 744,000 members in New York on Tuesday endorsing the call for public financing and will host a Wednesday tele-townhall meeting with New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to rally those members.