February 3, 2012
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, New York 12224
Dear Governor Cuomo,
We write to express our strong support for the pledge you made during your State of the State address to introduce 2012 legislation to create a public funding option for New York state elections. We applaud your leadership in pursuing this vital goal; public financing is the single most important next step to upend the perception of “pay-to-play” culture in Albany and promote greater transparency, competition, and accountability.
As good government, civil rights, environmental, labor, business, religious and grassroots community organizations, we are united in our desire to see strong campaign finance reform with a system of public financing of elections. We stand ready to work with you and members of the legislature to achieve victory this legislative session. We have already begun to marshal the necessary resources to launch a robust campaign to do so. With your leadership, New York will be an example for the nation of how to revitalize democracy at all levels of government.
As you noted in your address, New York lags behind other states in political participation, but public financing has the capacity to empower average voters to have a voice in the political process. After Citizens United, we face an era of unlimited and increasingly secret spending on elections. New York City’s experience shows that a public financing option can counter the potentially corrupting influence of big money in politics. Public financing enables candidates to run competitive campaigns while relying on a base of small donors back home, rather than on a small number of wealthy contributors. By doing so, public financing is particularly valuable for promoting participation among voters and candidates in low-income communities and communities of color. Public financing will promote accountability and diversity in New York’s governance while revitalizing our participatory democracy.
Integral to reforming the state’s campaign finance laws are other essential elements set forth in your State of the State address. Reasonable contribution limits without loopholes; “pay to play” rules for companies and individuals doing business with the State; and, in particular, strong but fair and independent enforcement of our campaign finance laws – all of these are needed to restore public trust in our government.
Your continued leadership will be critical to winning this legislative session. We urge you to press hard for the creation of a robust public financing program, and we offer our collective support to enact this essential reform.
Sincerely,
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East | 32 BJ |
ACT NOW | Albany Presbytery, PC (USA) |
ALIGN | Alliance for Quality Education |
Americans for Campaign Reform | Asian Pacific Americans for Progress-New York |
BALCONY, The Business and Labor Coalition of NY | Barack Obama Democratic Club |
Barack Obama Democratic Club of East Harlem | Binghamton Southside Neighborhood Assembly |
Brennan Center for Justice | Brooklyn and Staten Island MoveOn Councils |
Brooklyn Movement Center | Buffalo Teachers Federation |
Buffalo MoveOn Council | Capital Region MoveOn Council |
Center for Working Families | Citizen Action of New York |
Citizen Action of New York City | Citizens Committee for New York City |
Citizens for a Better New York (CFBNY) | Citizens Union |
Coalition for Economic Justice | Coalition for the Homeless |
Colgate University Democracy Matters | Common Cause NY |
Community Free Democrats | Community Voices Heard |
CWA District 1 | Democracy for New York City |
Democracy Matters | Democrats.com |
Demos | Disabled In Action of Metropolitan New York |
Downtown Independent Democrats | Drum Major Institute |
East Side Democratic Club | Fingerlakes MoveOn Council |
Foundation of Integrative AIDS Research | Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition |
Greater NYC for Change | Human Services Council |
Hunger Action Network of NY State | Interfaith Impact of New York State |
Iona College Democracy Matters | Jobs with Justice Long Island |
Justice and Peace Resource Center | Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State |
La Fuente | League of Women Voters |
Long Island Progressive Coalition | Make the Road NY |
Manhattan MoveOn Council | Manhattan Young Democrats |
Metro New York Healthcare for All | Metropolitan Russian American Parent Association |
Mount Vernon United Tenants | NAACP New York State Conference |
Nassau County MoveOn Council | NASW-NYS |
National Council of Jewish Women – NY Section | New Kings Democrats |
New Roosevelt Initiative | New York Civic |
New York Communities for Change | New York State Nurses Association |
New York Uprising (Edward I. Koch, Founder) | Northwest Bronx for Change |
Northern Westchester MoveOn Council | NYPIRG |
OCA-NY | PEF ENCON |
People United for Sustainable Housing | Planned Parenthood of South Central NY |
Port Jefferson MoveOn Council | Public Campaign |
Public Employees Federation of NY | PUSH-Buffalo |
Queens County Young Democrats | Queens MoveOn Council |
Reform Jewish Voice of New York State | Reinvent Albany |
Rochester MoveOn Council | RWDSU |
Saratoga MoveOn Council | Schuyler Center for Analysis & Advocacy |
Sierra Club Susquehanna Group | Strong Economy for All |
St. Lawrence University Democracy Matters | Sullivan County MoveOn Council |
SUNY Binghamton Democracy Matters | SUNY Buffalo Democracy Matters |
SUNY Geneseo Democracy Matters | Syracuse MoveOn Council |
Syracuse University Democracy Matters | Tenants Political Action Committee |
The Interfaith Alliance of Rochester (TIAR) | Tribeca for Change |
UAW Region 9 | UAW Region 9A |
UFCW 1500 | Ulster County MoveOn Council |
Union College Democracy Matters | Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Binghamton |
United New York | Upper West Side MoveOn Council |
Urban Justice Center | Utica MoveOn Council |
Voices of Community Activists & Leaders | Welfare Rights Initiative |
WESPAC Foundation | West Side Campaign Against Hunger |
Westchester for Change | Westchester MoveOn Council |
Women’s City Club of New York | Working Families Party |