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Big Donors Need Not Worry About New Albany Campaign Finance ‘Reforms’
By
Fred Mogul
Published Dec 3, 2019
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By
Fred Mogul
Published Dec 3, 2019
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Pop quiz: According to the newly released binding recommendations of a campaign finance panel, which of the following recent donations would no longer be possible:
A) A $25,000 donation by Jeffrey and Marilyn Katzenberg to Governor Andrew Cuomo.
B) A $10,000 donation by the New York State Pipe Trades Association to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins.
C) A $125,000 donation by PHRMA, the pharmaceutical industry’s national trade group, to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.
D) A $109,600 donation by Empire Dental PAC, the lobbying arm of the New York State Dental Association, to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee.
E) All of the Above
F) None of the Above
Those with just a little bit of skepticism about Albany won’t be surprised to learn that the answer is F—none of these donations would be outlawed by changes to the state’s campaign finance regulations.
“The influence of big money will still be there, because the commission’s recommendations were inadequate at best and fatally flawed at worst,” said Blair Horner, Executive Director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
Cuomo and the Democratically-controlled legislature created a Public Campaign Financing Commission to diminish the role of large donors in political campaigns. The commission made its final recommendations this week. They include creating a new system that pays candidates up to 12 times the amount they raise in small campaign donations and capping the maximum donations.
The commission has been challenged from the start, by lawmakers and independent watchdogs who feared it would do too little to curb the influence of donors with deep pockets. As the panel’s work drew to a close, few were placated—and many focused on persistent loopholes.
Seven commission members were appointed by Democrats and two by Republicans, but some appointees on both sides expressed regret that contribution limits remained high and group donations remained as-is.
“Every dollar that remains from concentrated sources dilutes small dollar donors,” wrote David Previte,” a lawyer who has represented Senate Republicans. “Refusing to deal with Political Action Committee and union money, the Commission decided to keep the money it wanted in the system, rather than adhere to its purpose.”
The caps on large donations have received less attention than the new financing system, and both have been largely overshadowed by a peripheral but controversial mandate lawmakers gave the panel: revising how parties qualify for their lines on the ballot.
At first glance, the new limits imposed on big gifts look dramatic: the contribution cap on candidates for statewide office, such as governor or attorney general, is now $18,000 instead of $69,700. For state senators, it’s down to $10,000 from $15,000, and from $9,400 to $6,000 for Assembly members.
But those limits continue to be higher than all but a handful of other states, and well higher than the federal contribution limits for candidates running for president or Congress.
And New York’s new limits—which would go into effect in 2022, unless the governor and legislature amend them—also come with big loopholes.
While the commission trimmed individual donations, it didn’t touch how much families can give. So a Democratic kingmaker like Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Hollywood impresario, could double his donation if $18,000 by having the name of his wife, Marilyn, on the check.
“It’s not consistent with new lower limits—individuals who coordinate with their families can give the same large donations they gave previously,” said Alex Camarda, from Reinvent Albany. “It shows how much the commission distracted themselves with issues like fusion voting [and the ballot eligibility of small parties], when they should have focused on this.”
On the other hand, Camarda noted, at least Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, whose Bitcoin venture recently faced approval by state regulators, would no longer each be able to donate $65,000 to Cuomo, as they did last year. In the future, the twin brothers—made famous by the movie “The Social Network,” for trying to sue Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg—could only donate $36,000 collectively.
Five-figure donations from individuals are not uncommon, but they’re dwarfed by the six-figure contributions corporate and union political action committees make to state parties and their Senate and Assembly “housekeeping accounts.” These, too, were unaddressed by the Commission, and can continue unabated.
“It’s like squeezing a balloon – if it goes down on one side, it just gets bigger on the other,” Horner said.
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andrew cuomo
campaign finance reform
Fred Mogul
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