From Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer:
Taxpayer Funded Elections
Your Tax Dollars Could Be Used to Support Political Campaigns
The New York State Public Campaign Financing Commission has started to meet and is required to issue its final recommendations by Dec. 1st. The commission was created as part of the disastrous 2019 Budget and one of its major objectives is to determine the future of publicly financing elections in New York State.
The budget also allocated $100 million for the potential public financing system across New York State. I strongly opposed this spending and voted No.
There is a money problem in politics but spending nearly $100 million of taxpayer money on elections will do nothing to fix it. It is comical to think that spending $100 million of taxpayer money on elections will “take the money out of politics.”
Supporters say that spending taxpayer money on elections will help fight corruption. However, New York City already has a public financing system in place and it has done little to curb corruption or build public trust.
If New York State wants to get serious about reducing the money in politics, it needs real solutions that actually address the problem. That is why I am advancing legislation that will actually reduce corruption and the influence of money in politics.
Instead of spending $100 million of taxpayer money to support candidate mailings and phone calls, we should lower contribution limits, require greater disclosure of political advertising by third parties and ban donations from politically appointed individuals. My proposals will do just that.
Please review and share your comments with me on my reform bills. The Commission is due to make its recommendations on Dec. 1st and it is not too late to have your voice heard. To tell the commission that you do not support spending $100 million on political campaigns, please visit my website and sign my petition.
Bill Number Purpose S1932 Restricts government partcipant contributions S1933 Restricts certain corporations from participating or intervening in any political campiagn on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office S1934, S1936 Relates to contribution limits for parties appointed to public positions S1935, S1987 Restricts government participant contribution periods S2350 Expands media disclosure requirements and lowers political contribution limits
