Reform Groups Call for Ethics, Campaign Finance Reforms in a Possible Special Session

The Daily Politics blog reports that Common Cause NY and NYPIRG have written to Gov. Cuomo and the legislative leaders, urging them to take up ethics and campaign finance reforms as part of any special legislative session held before the end of 2014.

The groups call for:

• restructuring the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) by reducing the number of commissioners from 14, and imposing “revolving door” restrictions to ensure “that staff have not been recent employees of those they monitor,”;
• making the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) apply to JCOPE and the Legislative Ethics Commission;
• enacting a system of public matching funds for political campaigns;
• lowering campaign contribution limits and eliminating “political party “housekeeping” accounts;
• banning the personal use of campaign donations; and
• restricting the ability of lobbyists to engage in campaign fundraising.

The groups also note that the Governor and legislative leaders have not yet appointed the review commission “to review and evaluate the activities and performance of the joint commission on public ethics and the legislative ethics commission in implementing” the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 (Chapter 399 of 2011), which they should have done by June 1, 2015.  This review commission is supposed to report to the Governor and the Legislature, no later than March 31, 2015, and include in its report “any administrative and legislative recommendations on strengthening the administration and enforcement of the ethics law in New York state.”

Read the groups’ letter here.