The group also included a memo outlining its legal footing as well, noting that other states are already moving in the direction toward repeal of
donor contribution limits.
Not exact matches
The candidates also raise money for their parties, enabling them to ask for
contributions far higher than the $ 2,700 - per -
donor limit to the campaigns.
NYC Comptroller John Liu insists he was «deceived» by a fundraiser charged with using straw
donors to circumvent
contribution limits, but the identification of a yet unnamed conspirator in the case could prove that assertion wrong.
Investigators looking into de Blasio's fundraising practices are now scrutinizing his 2013 campaign for possible straw
donors, checking to see if they were either reimbursed for their
contributions or given cash to pass along to the campaign in order to skirt the city's donation
limits.
Since Murphy didn't make it the general election, she had to refund cash in excess of the primary
contribution limit to some of her
donors.
«For most offices, New York State's
contribution «
limits» are substantially higher than those of any other state that imposes
limits, and they are so high as to ensure that large
donors dominate major political campaigns and candidates spend as much time as possible raising money from
donors rather than talking with voters about issues,» Cuomo said in the written version of the SoS.
Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer memorably imposed a $ 10,000 individual
contribution limit on his own fundraising, but then encouraged
donors to give to the state Democratic Party, which had no such contraints.
At the moment, a single campaign
donor can give unlimited
contributions through a network of
limited liability companies or LLCs.
The rise of Super PACs in this election cycle has caused a lot of buzz and consternation, in part because they allow
donors to avoid restrictions like
contribution limits and reporting requirements while spending as much as they'd like to support their preferred candidates.
Cuomo, too, has talked about the importance of
limiting big
donors» access to government by
limiting political
contributions and creating a public campaign finance system — although he has yet to formally propose any legislation to accomplish that.
Longtime League of Women Voters lobbyist Barbara Bartoletti expressed frustration at the lack of action on items including closing a giant campaign finance loophole that allows big money
donors to make unlimited
contributions to candidates by setting up multiple
Limited Liability Companies.
Reinvent Albany Asks Charter Revision Commission to Better Disclose and
Limit Contributions to City - Affiliated Nonprofits by
Donors Doing Business with the City Recommends Commission Phase in Campaign Finance Reform Because of Unprecedented 2021 Election Activity Due to Term
Limits Reinvent Albany delivered testimony to the mayor - convened New York City Charter Revision Commission this evening, calling -LSB-...]
Thursday's filings lay bare those donations and other jaw - dropping financial details of the first modern presidential campaign in which
donors could give unlimited
contributions for political ads and in which both major party candidates declined to participate in a Watergate - era public financing system designed to
limit fundraising.
A Justice Department probe of the campaign alleges that Durand, a former business associate of Grimm, illegally reimbursed
donors in order to evade legal
contribution limits and funnel more money to Grimm's 2010 Congressional campaign.
The
donors are either reimbursed for their
contributions or given cash to pass along to the campaign in order to skirt the city's donation
limits.
Horner, with NYPIRG, says the testimony illustrates the need to clean up New York's campaign finance laws by setting stricter caps on
contributions and eliminating a loophole that allows
donors to use LLCs or
limited liability companies, to skirt existing
donor limits.
The
donors include George Soros and Time Warner Cable, who were legally able to skirt
limits on direct
contributions to Cuomo's individual campaign account.
A December report by the state's anti-corruption commission highlighted the problems with the current system: poor oversight, high
contribution limits, and extensive loopholes for major
donors.
Jenny Hou is accused of helping Liu's campaign skirt campaign finance laws by allegedly using straw
donors to channel illegal
contributions far above the legal
limit into Liu's campaign coffers.
Sky - high
contribution limits — $ 41,000 for statewide races in the general election — mean that candidates spend more time courting big
donors, who in turn exercise disproportionate influence over policy - making.
If there is anything recent events have taught us, it's that we need to
limit the outsized influence of wealthy corporate
donors, who have been able to influence lawmakers by making virtually unlimited campaign
contributions to candidates — often without even disclosing their identities.
A coalition of groups on Monday urged the state Board of Elections to prohibit the practice of allowing individual
donors to give unlimited campaign
contributions through a network of
limited liability corporations.
Right now, the state caps election - cycle
contribution limits at $ 150,000 for an individual
donor in a calendar year and $ 5,000 for corporations.
Broadly, NYPIRG notes the impact of the decision to suspend the state's $ 150,000 aggregate
limit for
contributions in an election cycle will have little impact, considering
donors can skirt that through donations from a web of
limited liability corporations.
The loophole allows
donors to skirt limitations on individual campaign
contributions by donating anonymously through one or more
limited liability companies.
[20][21] The move allowed a few
donors to give
contributions far in excess of the legal
limit to evade the cap that would have otherwise applied.
Contribution limits put a cap on how much a candidate can accept from single
donors and vary depending on township.
But he said he has about $ 80,000 from
donors whose
contributions exceeded primary
limits and are reserved for the general election.
NYPIRG and other reform groups say larger, more systematic issues need to be addressed, like closing a loophole that permits
donors to skirt
contribution limits by bundling money in
limited liability corporations, or LLC's.
Some members donate funds to non-profits, charities, educational institutions, political parties, other candidates (within
limits), or refund
contributions to the original
donors.
Some members donate the funds to non-profits, charities, educational institutions, political parties, other candidates (within
limits), or refund
contributions to the original
donors.
DiNapoli has $ 2.1 million in the bank, so any existing
contributions exceeding this
limit will need to be refunded to
donors or placed in a separate account that can't be touched during this election cycle.
He's made passing references to «wealthy
donors» three times in his past five addresses, but goes all - in with that line of reasoning this time around: we have
contribution limits to make sure elections «are not captured by wealthy public interests,» he says; «wealthy individuals and corporations are able to use
Limited Liability Companies» to avoid these
limits, so reform is needed «to even the playing field so that rich and poor New Yorkers alike have their voices heard.»
Cuomo's prescriptions in his 2016 State of the State speech included closing a legal loophole that lets campaign
donors funnel unlimited sums to candidates through
limited - liability companies; requiring office holders to report campaign
contributions every 60 days instead of twice a year; allowing lawmakers to earn no more than 15 percent of their legislative salaries in private - sector work; and adopting a system of voluntary public campaign financing similar to what New York City has.
It's a little hard to peg down the exact amount at this point because the party housekeeping accounts, which have no
contribution limits and are thus the favored vehicles of deep - pocketed
donors, are not required to file its next report until the middle of next month.
The Hedge Clippers report says that Cuomo's reelection campaign benefited from a loophole in New York campaign finance laws that allows wealthy
donors, such as hedge fund executives, to exceed
contribution limits by giving through multiple companies.
The federal probe is checking whether some
donors to de Blasio's mayoral run were either reimbursed for their
contributions or given cash to pass along to the campaign in order to skirt the city's donation
limits, according to sources.
«Every year, hundreds of
donors give more money than is allowed by state law that has highest
limits of any state capping donation size; scores of candidates fail to disclose large
contributions received in the run - up to Election Day; thousands of filings obfuscate the identity of
donors or the purpose of expenditures through the inclusion of incomplete or incorrect information; and dozens of incumbent lawmakers spend campaign funds for what reasonable people would unanimously agree are non-campaign reasons,» the report found.
The legislation also
limits campaign
contributions across the board and requires more disclosure of
donors.
Incumbents prefer high
contribution limits, since it is generally easier for someone already in office to attract big
donors than it is for challengers.
In addition, Schneiderman wants to
limit the influence of large
donors on campaigns by enacting public campaign financing and
limiting contributions.
The board cited Lopez's campaign for infractions that included: failing to report all financial transactions, untimely filing of mandatory financial disclosure statements, and failing to provide canceled refund checks to
donors who exceeded
contribution limits.
«The Nonprofit Disclosure Provisions require
donors to choose between making
contributions over the dollar threshold — and thus face public disclosure of their names and addresses on a government website, subjecting them to whatever might result — and
limiting or forgoing association with organizations they would otherwise support.
There are no
contribution limits to housekeeping accounts, which allows
donors to dump thousands of dollars toward party politics, he said.
She repeatedly mentions that the Ulster and Putnam committees didn't have a history of receiving large
contributions from their
donors in the fall of 2014 or getting involved in Senate races, which she views as signals that they were used as straw
donors to evade
contribution limits.
The federal filings also show Mr. Espaillat is supposed to pay back some $ 31,500 to 16
donors whose
contributions exceeded the legal
limit — including $ 5,000 owed to real estate developer Jona Rechnitz, the owner of JSR Capital.
The report recommended public financing of campaigns to
limit big
donors» influence, closing loopholes that allow companies to ignore current state
contribution limits and toughening bribery penalties.
Hou and Pan are accused of using straw
donors to funnel illegal
contributions that are far above the legal
limit into Liu's campaign chest.
A federal judge earlier this month shot down an effort to grant a preliminary injunction to the group that would have allowed
donors to go over the $ 150,000
contribution limit in state law.
They add another idea not on Cuomo's list, banning the prevalence of LLC's or
Limited Liability Companies, used as a loophole by campaign
donors to skirt
contribution limits.