Governor: Reform New York’s Campaign Finance Laws in 2013

Not long after Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced his initiative to address Super PAC spending in the state’s elections, Gov. Cuomo said that he intends to go further in 2013.

In a radio interview last week, Gov. Cuomo said that will proposes a reform package in his upcoming State of the State address to require groups engaged in political activity in New York that do not report their expenditures or their donors to do so.

Gov. Cuomo said that his goal is to ensure that every politically active group is covered by the state’s campaign-finance laws, without regard to where such organizations are based (the Attorney General’s proposal would only apply to groups that are incorporated in New York):

“If it’s activity in the state of New York, I want it covered. I don’t care if you’re registered in New York or if you’re registered in Timbuktu….I very much would like to see the state of New York be the progressive leader when it comes to campaign-finance reform, transparency, disclosure, public finance, limits—that’s going to be our goal.”

The also Governor said he will also push for a public financing system.

Read an article from this week’s Crain’s New York Business that looks at the “turf war” between the Governor and Attorney General.