«The Legislature has created this very comprehensive system
of campaign contribution limits in New York state,» said Republican Co-Chairman Peter Kosinski.
Mr. Schneiderman has outlined an ambitious package of proposals that would end outside income for lawmakers, end per diem compensations given to politicians to pay for accommodations in the capital, drastically
lower campaign contribution limits for individuals and lobbyists, control the amount of cash limited liability corporations can donate to candidates and abolish the virtually unregulated party «housekeeping» accounts.
Corporations Use Limited Liability Companies to
Skirt Campaign Contribution Limits Limited Liability Companies associated with luxury real estate mogul Leonard Litwin have channeled more than $ 900,000 into races for the New York State Senate this election cycle, largely to Republicans seeking to hold on to majority control.
It couples the
highest campaign contributions limits of any state with limits, with inadequate disclosures, sporadic enforcement, and loopholes that allow elected officials to use their campaign monies in ways that can subsidize their incomes.
The week began with the leak of a confidential report by the state's elections enforcer that alleged that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had engaged in an illegal effort to circumvent
campaign contribution limits in his 2014 push to bolster the re-election prospects of some sitting state Senate Democrats, who presumably would be more favorable to the democrat mayor's city agenda in Albany.
(DiNapoli had just $ 1.3 million on hand in mid-January and recently scrapped his self -
imposed campaign contribution limits, admitting he doesn't want to unilaterally disarm against a potential self - funding opponent).
The Supreme Court has never — not even in what is perhaps the low - water mark of campaign finance jurisprudence, the Citizens United case — struck down a federal
campaign contribution limit as unconstitutional.
Vance is reportedly looking into whether Team de Blasio funneled big bucks campaign contributions to Democratic Senate candidates in a pass - through scheme that circumvented
individual campaign contribution limits of $ 10,300.
Cuomo released bills to close the loophole that allows donors to skirt
campaign contribution limits by setting up limited liability companies, but those bills were rejected by the Senate.
As a candidate for governor, Andrew Cuomo advanced a proposal to place new, strict, and lower
campaign contribution limits on those seeking and receiving government contracts.
Notably,
campaign contribution limits set at $ 1,000 per company have limited the free flights candidates can accept, making travel to actually campaign a real difficulty.
While the movements of funds between donors, county committees and candidates complied
with campaign contribution limits, Vance said «it appears that the Coordinate Campaign structured the transactions in an effort to avoid the much lower direct contribution limit.»
Among the many provisions in the bill: end outside employment for lawmakers, ban per diem limits and dramatically
tighten campaign contribution limits, restrict contributions by lobbyists, create a public financing system, and provide for a substantial salary increase for legislators while extending their terms from two years to four years.
ALBANY — A Supreme Court ruling has opened the door to a legal challenge to the $ 5,000
overall campaign contribution limit per calendar year for corporations in New York State.
At the same meeting, the board announced that it will soon be
raising campaign contribution limits, with candidates for statewide office allowed to receive up to $ 65,100 per donor in the 2016 election cycle, an increase from $ 60,800.
The state Board of Elections in 1996 opined that LLCs are «individuals» separate from the people who control them, subject to their
own campaign contribution limits.
Authorities are also examining whether fundraising efforts for Democratic state senate candidates
violated campaign contribution limit laws by being routed to other committees, which were allowed to rake in huge donations compared to caps on single donors directly to a candidate's campaign.
The Assembly has passed some campaign finance reform measures, including closing the so - called Limited Liability Company (LLC) loophole, which allows those controlling these secretive business entities to essentially
ignore campaign contribution limits.
Present local law fails to reasonably preclude — and could actually enable — county officers and employees from accepting an overabundance of questionable gifts, skirting
campaign contribution limits through the use of the LLC loophole, abusing their offices and taxpayer funded items to freely self - promote their personal names and images (or «brand»), and awarding contracts to those vendors who unabashedly pay to play in county government.
The US Supreme Court decided in the past year that a corporation has the same free speech rights as an individual,
so campaign contribution limits did not apply.
Also, New York must lower corruptly
high campaign contribution limits; close the LLC loophole that allows wealthy political donors to funnel massive amounts of money through limited liability companies; and create a system of public financing of campaigns.
Last Friday, he announced he was doing away with his self -
imposed campaign contribution limits, saying he didn't want to unilaterally disarm against Wilson, who may or may not invest a boatload of his own cash into his campaign.
He wants a public matching system for small campaign contributions, a full - time legislature with a ban on outside income, elimination of per diem reimbursements, drastically
reduced campaign contribution limits, and the AG's office empowered to investigate the legislature.
They also passed on closing loopholes allowing certain donors to
skirt campaign contribution limits and increasing transparency for billions in state economic development spending.