Politics & Government
Local Activists Want Public Funded Campaigns
A demonstration and press conference will be held in front of New York State Sen. David Carlucci's Ossining, 2 Church St., at 4:30pm.
Local organizations and political activist groups will come together Friday afternoon to demand that political campaigns be publically funded and not overwhelmed by private corporate donations.
“Public financing is important because it can put people back in charge of our elections,” said Joe Mayhew, the legislative political coordinator for the Communications Workers of America Local 1103. “Right now, CEO campaign contributors have a monopoly over the supply of campaign funding, so candidates for office must cater to these mega donor's narrow interests at the expense of ordinary folks.”
CWA Local 1103 and the Hudson Valley Coalition for a Fair Economy will hold a demonstration and press conference at 4:30 p.m. in front of New York State Sen. David Carlucci’s Ossining office, at 2 Church St., to impress upon the senator the importance of the issue.
They will be joined by other local organizations, including:
- WESPAC Foundation
- Westchester Grassroots Coalition
- MoveOn
- Common Cause
- Mt Vernon United Tenants
- Working Families Party
The organizations are appealing to Carlucci—who covers District 38, which includes Ossining, New City, Nanuet, Nyack, Pearl River and other territories—to advocate for campaign reform, since he is a member of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC). The IDC includes three other senators who advocate “common sense” and bipartisan” solutions to New York’s political problems. Click here for IDC reports on Carlucci’s website.
“It’s important that Senator Carlucci as a member of the IDC understand that the community agrees Campaign Finance Reform without a publicly financed component is meaningless and it is important that he and his IDC colleagues assure that the Senate brings this issue to a vote in this session,” said Mayhew.
CWA and its partners are also canvassing over the next few days asking residents to sign petitions and take photos holding signs that support publically financed elections.
“If public financing were enacted, individual small donor's contributions would mean more due to matching portion and candidates would be less dependent on big donors,” said Mayhew. “When elected officials have to answer to us instead of the mega donors, they will be more responsive to our needs and accountable only to the voters.”
The 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision overruled two aspects of the First Amendment so that the government cannot ban corporate funding of politicians in candidate elections and can’t regulate political speech—giving corporations the constitutional rights given to people.
“Because public financing would rely on a small donor matching system that multiples the value of small contributions by six, they would gain more influence with their lawmakers in the State Assembly and State Senate,” said Mayhew. “Public financing would enable us to finally have a voice in Albany. Right now, corporate interests drown out our voices with big contributions to lawmakers. That’s why we get these distorted policy agendas that fail to reflect the priorities of everyday New Yorkers.”
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