I am no fan of Andrew Cuomo's economic policies, but if this report in the NY Times is accurate, he will make a major move tomorrow to advance democracy in New York State.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, seeking to prod recalcitrant lawmakers to take action after a rash of embarrassing corruption scandals in Albany, plans to use his budget proposal this week to push for approval of new ethics laws and a public financing system for state political campaigns, administration officials said.Mr. Cuomo, who has sought to position himself as a centrist Democrat and has collected millions of dollars in campaign cash from real estate developers and other wealthy donors, has faced persistent calls from the left wing of his party to be more forceful in demanding an overhaul of New York’s lax campaign fund-raising laws, a top priority of liberals who hope that sweeping changes in Albany could provide a model for other states….
Karen Scharff of Citizen Action responded to the report on behalf of the Fair Elections for New York coalition: By including public financing of elections in the budget, Governor Cuomo has demonstrated national leadership. The Governor is showing he is serious about cleaning up Albany and fixing our broken political system. Public financing is essential to changing Albany’s pay-to-play legal bribery culture and giving more power to the voters. As today's Siena poll showed, nearly 2/3 of New Yorkers in every part of the state support real reforms that limit the size of fat-cat contributions and replacing them with small donations that are matched by public money. We applaud the Governor's budget proposal as a major step in the right direction and urge the Legislature to follow his lead by passing it into law.With the anniversary of Citizens United falling this week, it is heartening that New York could be the first state to enact a practical response to the unchecked flood of big money into our political system.
Because of a peculiar provision of the New York State Constitution, the Governor has the authority to insert statutory language into his budget proposal. Concurrent votes of both houses of the legislature to remove it are then necessary or the Governor's proposal become law. IMHO that provision is manifestly antidemocratic, giving the governor quasi dictatorial power when the legislature is divided. Nevertheless, this is a big win for progressives - amending the Constitution is a task for the future. Politics ain't beanbag.