Fair Elections Advocates Sit In on State Board of Elections Meeting
Experts will be available following the State Board of Elections meeting to share information and analysis on the need to close the LLC Loophole.
Demand Closure of Infamous LLC Campaign Finance Loophole
Who: Lawrence Norden, Brennan Center for Justice, 646–292–8326
Rachael Fauss, Citizens Union, 518–859–5307
Lauren George, Common Cause New York, 646–479–9956
Laura Ladd Bierman, League of Women Voters, 518–465–4162
Jessica Wisnieski, Citizen Action of New York, 845–901–0264
All above parties available for interviews following meeting
What: New York State Board of Elections Commissioners Meeting
When: 12:00pm Thursday, April 16, 2015
Where: New York State Board of Elections
40 North Pearl Street, Suite 5
Albany, NY 12207
Notes: This week, advocates have mobilized over 4,000 comments from New Yorkers to the Board of Elections (BOE) urging them to take action to close the LLC loophole, which allows donors to circumvent contribution limits and disclosure requirements that protect election integrity. On Thursday, April 9, the Brennan Center and Emery Celli Brinkerhoff & Abady LLP sent a letter to the BOE asking it to reverse its misguided 1996 ruling that created the LLC Loophole. Good government groups sent a letter to Governor Cuomo on Monday asking for his help in pushing the BOE to act.
LLCs are used by a wide variety of industries to circumvent the $5,000 annual corporate limit because our state treats them as “individuals” rather than corporations. This “corporate personhood” status held by LLCs is the result of an advisory opinion issued by the State Board of Elections in 1996. The Federal Elections Commission treats LLCs as corporations or partnerships rather than individuals, and New York should do the same.