Common Cause/NY Reports on Anonymous Grassroots Advocacy in Albany

This week, Common Cause/NY released “Lifting the Veil:  A Report Analyzing Grassroots Lobbying in New York State and Recommending Amendments to the
Lobbying Act.”

In it, the group examines New York State lobbying data to show how third-party coalitions are employing grassroots campaign-style tactics are becoming more common in Albany. The report recommends changes to the Lobbying Act to address the increasing use of grassroots lobbying.

What seems to have sparked this report is the use of such tactics by the business community this year, most notably by the pro-Cuomo Committee to Save New York.  This sort of spending by labor unions has become common in Albany for much of the last decade.

The timing of this report is…interesting.  Common Cause/NY has endorsed the Governor’s ethics reform bill, which addresses this issue.  But the bill (expected to be acted on by the Legislature next week) does not come close to enacting the changes Common Cause/NY is advocating for.