Todd Kaminsky

We need to limit campaign contributions — now

Posted

New York’s former Senate majority leader and former Assembly speaker are headed to jail. Political corruption cases are piling up like bags of trash in a dumpster. And four out of five New Yorkers are demanding reform, according to polls.

Surely, this is the moment when our government will finally make some real changes, right? Don’t count on it.

This is the last week the State Legislature is scheduled to be in session this year, and there will likely be very little, if any, progress made in the effort to prevent further corruption in our state. Once again, common-sense reforms that would shine daylight on the shadowy corners of power, clean up our campaign finance system and punish the corrupt will be shelved as elected officials blame one another for the failure.

But there is one measure in particular that there can be no excuse for shelving this year — and legislators should stay in Albany as long as it takes to make sure it’s passed.

New York’s campaign finance law rightly places restrictions on how much individuals and corporations can give to candidates for state office. And although I and others believe that those limits are much higher than they should be, these curbs on the influence of the wealthy and powerful in politics are vitally important to honest government.

But there is a fatal flaw in our campaign finance system, and it’s spelled L-L-C. Even though regular corporations’ campaign contributions are capped at $5,000 per statewide candidate in a single election cycle, limited liability corporations, or LLCs, can give up to $60,800. (The numbers are lower for legislative candidates, but the difference is still absurd.)

That’s not even the worst part. Individuals can be owners of multiple LLCs, which can all give to the same candidate at the higher rate. So, theoretically, a single person could give unlimited amounts of money to a candidate by simply setting up a bunch of LLCs and funneling money through them.

Unfortunately, it’s not so hypothetical. Abuse of this loophole was at the center of the successful cases against Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, as well as a number of other corruption cases. The problem is also thoroughly bipartisan. Both the Republican and Democratic parties have taken in massive amounts of LLC contributions.

There is one major difference between the parties on this issue, though: the Democratic-controlled Assembly has passed legislation to close the loophole, while the Republican-controlled Senate has not, claiming that the Assembly bill does not go far enough to clean up the campaign finance system.

It is true that much more must be done. As a former federal prosecutor who oversaw the convictions of a number of elected officials, I can tell you that money is the virus that sickens our government. But the LLC loophole is a superbug that must be stopped. It is an exigent threat to our democracy. Closing it is an important first step that must be taken so that more comprehensive reform can follow — and it must be taken now.

That is why several of my Senate colleagues and I attempted to force a vote on an LLC reform bill last month that would treat LLCs like corporations, and cap their contributions at the same rate. The Republican-led Senate leadership rejected our motion.

It’s time both parties put their LLC money where their mouths are and finally pass this desperately needed reform. Indeed, the Senate should extend its session past this week until a deal is done. It may almost be summer, but we will not have earned our break until we answer our constituents’ calls for reform.

Todd Kaminsky is a state senator representing the 9th District.