"I'm going to be sending you a bill on campaign finance reform that puts public financing, matched contributions, lower limits and increased enforcement at the Board of Elections," Cuomo said toward the end of his speech. "Let's have elections that New Yorkers can be proud of also. Let's have campaign finance reform and let's do it this year."
Good-government advocates have long said New York's limits are out of whack: An individual may donate $60,800 to a gubernatorial candidate and a unlimited amount to a party's "housekeeping" committee.
In his 2010 campaign platform, Cuomo included a pledge to move toward public financing, where small donations are matched with a common pool of taxpayer dollars. But his declaration Wednesday surprised many with its prominence and strength.
"We've never seen this kind of up-front support from a governor before," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause.
Cuomo has been a prodigious fundraiser, raking in $34.8 million for his successful 2010 run — four times that of his Republican opponent, Carl Paladino, according to an analysis by the New York Public Interest Research Group. He has continued raising at a brisk clip, holding a birthday party last month where guests paid as much as $2,500 a ticket.
Until now, Cuomo's reform rhetoric has focused in other areas; while Assembly Democrats favor public financing, Senate Republicans have historically opposed it.
He did broker a bill requiring legislators to disclose more of their outside income and creating a new commission to serve as the Capitol's ethics watchdog.
But with all this talk of public financing, many states and the federal government is talking about removing, and in some cases already removed, that little check box on state tax forms.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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