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In response to a news report that the Mayor will shut down the Campaign for One New York, Common Cause New York Executive Director Susan Lerner issued the following statement

Today Common Cause/New York sent a letter addressed to the Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) and the Campaign Finance Board (CFB) calling for a review of Mayor Bill de Blasio's use of 501(c)4 entities to raise money: the Campaign for One New York and United for Affordable NYC.

The first briefing focuses on contributions to Senator Mike Ranzenhofer via the LLC loophole from 2005-2015. The LLC loophole was a central issue in the corruption cases against Dean Skelos and Sheldon Silver who both accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from New York City based Glenwood Management, in return for preferential treatment. New York State law treats LLCs as individuals, as opposed to corporations, subject to the much higher contribution limit. As a result wealthy interests use it to circumvent the campaign finance laws to influence lawmakers and seek favorable policies.

Today Siena College Research Institute released a poll which found that 89% of New Yorkers say that corruption is somewhat or very serious, and almost half (49%) are less likely to re-elect their current representative because of corruption.

Today, Common Cause/NY Executive Director, Susan Lerner, testified before the New York City Council about pay raises and related reforms.

Common Cause/NY, Citizens Union, and NYPIRG issued a joint statement in anticipation of the upcoming vote to raise salaries for members of the New York City Council.