Hon. Andrea Stewart-Cousins

Hon. Craig Johnson

Hon. Joseph Addabbo

Hon. Jose Peralta

June 17, 2010

Dear Senators,

As one of New York City’s major progressive grassroots organizations, we call on you and your colleagues not to leave Albany for the end of the legislative session until real campaign finance reform passes the New York State Senate.  Voters at the national and state levels have recently become fully aware of the dangers posed by wealthy special interests that dominate our government, our regulatory agencies, and much of our public life.  That makes this the time to act and bring fundamental reform to our system.

Campaign finance is often relegated to secondary status in the face of more “immediate” concerns.  But it lies at the heart of so many of the biggest challenges that face our state.  We cannot fundamentally reform the way that business is done in Albany until we can give voters the confidence that their elected officials are working for them, not for big contributors.

New York State has some of the most lax and un-enforced campaign finance laws in the country, allowing special interests to spend millions of dollars to dominate our elections.  As just one example, the infamous “LLC loophole” allows real estate developers and other special interests to donate unlimited amounts of money simply by setting up multiple shell companies.   How can citizens possibly have equal access to their government when they are competing with the unlimited funds of some of the most powerful interests in the state?

ACT NOW is proud to have worked directly on all of your election campaigns, providing on-the-ground citizen volunteers at critical moments when your campaign needed them most.  This grassroots engagement is what we hope to see fostered throughout New York State, rather than the backroom politics-as-usual system that has dominated our state for so many years.  We worked hard on your campaign because we believed that you would be an advocate for meaningful change in Albany.  We hope to see that commitment in action now.

We would ask that you let us know whether we can count on you to pass real campaign finance reform before leaving Albany for the end of the legislative session.  We can be reached at 212-714-7125 or info@actnowny.org.Thank you for all of the good work that you do.

Sincerely,

ACT NOW Board of Directors