Unshackle Upstate, NYPIRG Reach Different Conclusions on Public Funding of Political Campaigns

Two advocacy groups released reports today that address issues expected to be taken up by the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption.

Pro-business group Unshackle Upstate’s report “Money for Nothing” argues that “taxpayer-funded political campaigns” will not fix Albany’s corruption problem (and it may in fact create new avenues for corruption), is a poor use of taxpayer dollars and may even violate the state Constitution.

Good government group NYPIRG (the New York Public Interest Research Group) issued a number of recommendations to the Moreland Commission, including a “voluntary, public financing option.” NYPIRG also recommends:

• Lowering campaign contribution limits;
• Eliminating political party “housekeeping accounts,” which can receive unlimited donations, but cannot be used to support specific candidates;
• Banning the use of personal use of campaign money by candidates;
• Limiting the use of campaign donations to the election in which they were received;
• Requiring disclosure by independent committees (those that do not support a particular candidate);
• Requiring disclosing of the names of people who bundle donations and the names of their employers;
• Establishing a new, independent campaign finance enforcement and regulatory agency;
• Restructuring the Joint Commission on Public Integrity (JCOPE) by reducing its size and preventing elected officials from serving on it;
• Providing additional resources to local District Attorneys to investigate and prosecute public corruption; and
• Restricting lobbyists’ involvement in campaign fundraising.

Gov. Cuomo has directed the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption to submit its preliminary recommendations by December 1.  Or, since that is a Sunday, perhaps we’ll see their preliminary report some time later in December.