Senate Dems, Public Finance Advocates Won’t Support Watered-Down Agreement

State of Politics

As various proposals for a broader public financing system are floated, members of the mainline Democratic conference in the Senate, as well as advocates that have pushed the measure over the years, are telegraphing they won’t support any agreement they deem watered-down.

If anything, the concerns advocates and liberal lawmakers are raising underscores just how much of a Rubik’s Cube the issue is for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who faces pressure from the left to push the system through the state Senate, but resistance from Republicans to attaining what would be the ideal system desired by supporters, including Working Families Party.

“We’re encouraged by the renewed interested in Fair Elections in Albany,” said Karen Scharff, the executive director of Citizen Action of New York, who released a statement on behalf of the Fair Elections for New York campaign. “But when it comes to public campaign funding, the details matter. History has proven that half a loaf campaign finance reforms result in failure, and we don’t want history to repeat itself in New York. Public campaign funding systems have been successful in New York City, Connecticut, Arizona and Maine because they provide enough public funds for candidates to run competitive campaigns.”

http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2014/05/senate-dems-public-finance-advocates-wont-support-watered-down-agreement/