Libs push new curb on pol $
Liberal groups are urging Mayor de Blasio's charter revision commission to dramatically lower the limit on donations candidates for citywide office are allowed to take.
Hizzoner created the commission to recommend changes to the city charter that could reshape the city's campaign finance system.
In a letter to commission members, groups including the Working Families Party, unions SEIU 32BJ and Communications Workers of America District 1, New York Communities for Change and others asked them to lower the donation limit while offering more generous taxpayer-matching funds to candidates.
They also want independent exmaximum penditure rules loosened so unions would not have to report spending on communications with their members in support of a candidate.
“In recent years big money has increasingly dominated the political process. The corrosive effect of this pattern is to erode public confidence in our political process. That's a dangerous trend and one NYC should do everything in its power to counter,” the letter says.
“NYC's existing rules are better than many jurisdictions, but they are a far cry from a system that would truly get big money out of politics and fully eliminate the even the appearance of the corrupting influence of campaign dollars on public officials.”
The groups are proposing a big reduction in the contribution city candidates are allowed to take, to $500 for candidates who take public-matching funds and $1,000 for those who don't. Under current rules, the limit will be $5,100 for citywide candidates in the next election cycle.
They're also proposing doubling the amount a candidate can receive in taxpayer-matching funds for each small donation from a city resident, to $2,100. And they want an increase in the total amount a candidate can get in city matching funds.
The groups also called for exempting communications with members — which are currently considered independent campaign expenditures and must be publicly reported — from disclosure requirements.