Government reform groups are pleased that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will put money in his new state budget to fund public financing of campaigns, as well as money for better enforcement of existing campaign laws.
Governor Cuomo, according to a report in the New York Times, will ask for funding for a matching donor public campaign finance system for statewide elections, as well as $4 million to create an independent unit in the State Board of Elections to enforce existing laws.
The Board of Elections has not had any investigators to probe campaign reporting violations in several years.
Karen Scharff, with Citizen Action, says she’s pleased that the governor is serious enough about his proposals to actually budget money to fund them.
“He’s showing that he’s serious about cleaning up Albany finally and fixing our broken camping finance system," Scharff said.
The public campaign financing proposal faces a steep hurdle in the State Senate, where Republicans oppose the measure, saying it would be a waste of the taxpayers’ money.
