With the State budget passed, Brooklyn/Manhattan Democratic State Sen. Daniel Squadron is renewing efforts to push through legislation, S.60B, closing the so-called LLC Loophole in State Election law, which allows huge political giving by individual donors.
In a letter to every Senator who is not currently a sponsor of the bill, a group that includes every State Senate Republicans, as well as, Democratic State Sens. Simcha Felder, David Valesky, Diane Savino, and David Carlucci, who are part of the five-member Independent Democratic Conference who conferences with Republicans.
Squadron writes that, “Many of us have made the promise to clean up and reform Albany. If the LLC loophole endures beyond this session, we have failed in that promise.”
The “LLC Loophole” in State Election law results from a 1996 Board of Elections decision and allows developers to funnel millions into local elections. By creating a separate LLC for each building being built or a landlord for each building they own, they can increase their political spending.
TO: Senator
FROM: Senator Squadron
RE: Co-Sponsorship of S.60B
DATE: April 14, 2016
I am writing to urge you to join me as a co-sponsor of S.60B, and help advance this legislation that closes the “LLC Loophole.” As I said during the recent budget debate, “You’re going to hear the same thing from me again, again and again until this [LLC] Loophole is closed.” Shockingly, the Senate failed to include closing the Loophole in the final budget.
The Governor proposed closing the Loophole in the Executive Budget, and committed to signing this legislation the day it is passed. The Assembly passed such legislation earlier this session. The Senate Democratic Conference has included closing the Loophole in our ethics package. But, in this house, my attempts to have the bill considered by the Senate have repeatedly been blocked.
S.60B would make explicit that LLCs are corporations for contribution purposes. It would increase transparency by requiring disclosure of the identity of individuals with membership interests in LLCs. It would also attribute LLC contributions to each LLC member, as is the law for partnerships.
Last year’s corruption trials of both former leaders of the Legislature highlighted the way in which anonymous corporate dollars drown out the voice of everyday New Yorkers in the political process.
Last year, I filed a Motion for Committee Consideration, only to have the bill buried in a secondary committee. I was refused a Petition for Consideration, ironically because of the majority’s tactic of burying. Then, I wrote a letter to the Majority Leader asking for a vote. Please, also see the attached op-ed I wrote with Assemblymember Kavanagh this week in the Albany Times Union. In addition, along with colleagues and advocates, I have delivered thousands of signatures from everyday New Yorkers calling for the Loophole to be closed. So, now, I am asking you, my colleagues, to co-sponsor this bill to send the message to millions of New Yorkers that they can trust us to do our jobs ethically and responsibly.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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