Our view: Public should be financing

campaigns
AT ISSUE: Current system encourages influence, discourages competition

Observer-Dispatch
Last update Mar 23, 2009 @ 10:13 AM

Even in a rock-bottom economy, state lawmakers are forging ahead to boost

their campaign coffers by staging fundraisers — some pretty pricey — at some
of Albany’s trendiest play spots.

It’s all legal, but it shouldn’t be. With a system like this, it’s highly unlikely we’ll
ever see competitive elections in New York state. Challengers can’t afford to
run.

We need public financing of campaigns.

A recent study by the New York Public Interest Research Group found that
political fundraisers abound in the state capital, where incumbents are charging
lobbyists and others seeking political favors some hefty admission prices to
campaign fundraisers.

Among them: Our own Sens. David Valesky, Joseph Griffo and James Seward,
and Assemblymen Marc Butler and David Townsend.

Some of the admission prices — they call them “contribution requests” — aren’t
too shabby. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, for instance, requested $1,000
and $3,600 to attend an event at the swanky State Room in downtown Albany.
Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, topped that with a Jan. 26
fundraiser at 74 State, an upscale hotel in the capital’s historic district.
Contribution “requests” ranged from $1,000 to $25,000.
NYPIRG and other government watchdog groups for years have sought to
restrict fundraising by lawmakers during the legislative session. Panhandling to
lobbyists and others is a good way to raise money for re-election campaigns
because “guests” are all too willing to fork over tidy sums if they think it’ll buy
some influence. It’s a dirty way to do business, and certainly not in the public’s
best interest.

Legislators argue that they need to raise money because campaigns are costly.
That’s true, but they’re costly for challengers, too. And challengers don’t have a
stable of willing customers with fistfuls of dollars ready to donate. That means a
penniless challenger with terrific ideas for overhauling our dysfunctional
government has little chance of running a campaign.

The answer is a voluntary system of public financing. Maine, Arizona and

Connecticut all elect leaders whose campaigns are fully financed by the public
— without special interest money or large contributions. It’s time New York get
off the dime — in this case, the dollars — and head in that direction.