This year's legislative session that ended back in June was marred by serious disappointment. Despite US Attorney Preet Bahara's revelation that there has been a crime wave happening in the halls of the Capitol right under our eyes, there wasn't enough will in the legislature to do anything to fix it.
In response, New York's powerful Governor Cuomo formed the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. At the time, he said, "This session, I put forward the most comprehensive and aggressive legislative package Albany has seen in decades to address the corrosive influence of money in elections, strengthen prosecutors’ ability to fight corruption, increase penalties against those who violate the public trust, and give voters more access to the ballot box. From the beginning, I said I would not accept a watered-down approach to cleaning up Albany and that the Legislature must either pass this legislative package or I would empanel an investigative commission tasked with accomplishing these same goals to achieve reform."
As leaders in the campaign to win Fair Elections for New York - a comprehensive campaign finance reform package centered around small donor matching system like the ones in NYC, Arizon, Maine and Connecticut - we were encouraged by the Governor's plan to address the systemic problems. Afterall, Albany's "show me the money" culture won't be solved just by throwing the crooks in jail. We need a reform that is a real game-changer - a reform that puts people before campaign cash.
In recent days, though, news reports have indicated that the Commission isn't being allowed to run the investigations it wants to. And, it appears possible that a premature deal is being negotiated that would kick the can of reform down the road indefinitely.
This is serious. The real, most devastating corruption happening in Albany actually isn't what Preet Bahara announced earlier this year. It's the legal bribery that happens every day. It when gambling interests pour millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of sitting officials. It's when a CEO goes to an evening fundraiser at the Fort Orange Club on Washington Avenue, cuts a $10,000 check, shakes a Senator's hand an gives him a wink.
Money buys access - access that people like you and me don't have. And as long as CEO campaign contributors have an audience with our elected officials when we don't, our needs and interests will come in last - issues like the Women's Equality Agenda, the DREAM Act, Housing, Fracking, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, and so much more. The result is those same CEOs essentially buying public policy, like the massive tax breaks given to real estate developers this year in exchange for campaign contributions.
All this is leaving us asking if this is just more of the same. It's like the only thing new in New York is how much corruption is actually getting noticed.
The good thing is that we still have time to push the Commission to do the right thing. If they stay strong and push forward with their investigations, they can help make meaningful reform happen. Their first set of recommendations is due out on December 1st. Those recommendations must include Fair Elections campaign finance reform. I've started a petition, and we'll deliver it to the Commission soon.
So the question is: what's the end game? Will the Commission agree to end their efforts early in exchange for a weak scheme that delays reform? Or, will Governor Cuomo choose to use his political capital and include a public financing system as part of the state budget, enacting reform quickly, just as the majority of New Yorkers want?
In this morning's Times Union, Gov. Cuomo's spokesperson said, "The governor wants the reform package he put forth last year passed, and the Legislature’s position then and now is to resist the need for reform."
Governor Cuomo can make the legislature pass this reform by including it in his budget. Certainly no other issue should take priority. That's what the Commission needs to recommend.