Focus on “Outside” Political Spending in New York

As the election season heats up, a number of newspapers throughout the state have begun to look closely at non-campaign spending – that is, independent expenditures on campaigns by groups (SuperPACs and others) that are not affiliated with any particular candidate, but are trying to influence the outcome of the race.

The Buffalo News looks at spending in the Hochul-Collins race for the 27^th Congressional District.  The GOP sees this race as a potential pick-up.

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle looks at Common Sense Principles, a Virginia-based group that does not report its spending with the state Board of Elections.

In the New York Daily News, columnist Bill Hammond argues that such “dark money” allows groups to “disguise[e] their true identities and real agendas.”

The two latter articles note that the 2011 ethics reform law directed the state Board of Elections (SBOE) to adopt rules on the reporting of independent expenditures January 2012.  But while the regulations have been proposed by SBOE, they have not been adopted.