I'm sure you've probably noticed the ad on the right side of the page. It was placed by the good folks at Common Cause NY. They are sponsoring buses to Albany from all over the state a week from today. You should be on one of those buses. I will. So will many hundreds of people from all over the Empire State as we converge on Albany to tell our legislators in person just exactly how we feel about the way our state government is run.
Last year's Reform Day was quite an experience for me and it was quite gratifying that there were so many members of the TAP community on hand as well. I'm hoping that there will be even more of us in attendance this year.
Click on the ad and sign up for one of those buses. You'll be glad you did. Besides, who doesn't like a road trip?
(You can see my video of then Lt. Governor Paterson addressing the crowd at Reform Day last year at the link.)
So who's in?
UPDATE: From our own Robert Harding:
I'm going to try and make it...
You can meet TAP's intrepid intern and all around rockstar, Mr. Prolific himself, Robert. In fact, so could I, as I've never met him either.
Here's video of Shelly's speech to the Reform Day In Albany conference on Monday. It took all day to upload because it is just so...awesome. And stuff.
As part of his tour around the state shaming Republican state senators for their bold, principled stand to protect the right of the obscenely wealthy to give essentially unlimited amounts of money to state campaigns, Governor Eliot Spitzer asked Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno a question:
"I would say it's time for Joe Bruno to answer a simple question," he added. "Mr. Bruno, why did you say directly to me, we cannot survive without L.L.C. money? Answer that question, Senator."
Do you really want to make your stand here? Do you really want to go to the voters next year and defend your heroic defense of the right of the super rich to manufacture endless subsidiaries and LLCs to blatantly circumvent New York's already insane contribution limits? Really?
Good. Sucks to be you, Joe.
Oh, and poor Bruno is upset that the Governor is touring the state telling folks exactly what happened Monday in Albany.
The governor's bellicose stance didn't go over well with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County.
"This is the most politicized governor that I have had an experience to deal with in 30 years," said Bruno, who was first elected when Hugh Carey was governor and served through the 12-year tenures of Mario Cuomo and George Pataki.
Those are the words of Governor Spitzer in his address to the Reform Day in Albany Conference yesterday. He was referring to a deal he had proposed to the leadership of both the Assembly and the State Senate regarding Campaign Finance Reform that was being discussed at that very moment across the street. As i'm sure you know, that deal was killed by my dear friend Majority Leader Joe Bruno.
Talks broke down because Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County, and fellow Republicans who control that chamber did not sign onto a bill that would have reduced campaign-donation limits and beefed-up enforcement of campaign-finance laws through the state Board of Elections, Spitzer said.
The main sticking point was part of the proposal that would have prohibited corporations from forming multiple subsidiaries - limited liability corporations - to get around their $5,000 annual contribution limit.
"The reason we are not here today with a proposal that will become law is very simple. The Republican members of the state Senate were unwilling to break their addiction to the free flow of money. It is a narcotic to which they are beholden," said Spitzer, who was flanked by representatives of good-government groups who were at the Capitol for what they called "Reform Day."
Make no mistake and mark my words, there will be no significant, meaningful reform of campaign finance in New York state with a Republican Majority in the Senate. Period. They've got to go.
Here's video of the Governor's speech to the conference yesterday.
Light posting from me today as I'll be in Albany for Reform Day. I'll have plenty of video of the events tonight though. Hopefully, I'll see plenty of you there!
Here's another great reason to get on the bus for reform this Monday. Governor Spitzer will announce his legislative agenda at Reform Day in Albany. It's a pretty ambitious list and an issue dear to my heart is at the top of the list, campaign finance reform. The governor will propose CFR legislation that, in his words, will "put New York in the lead of states around the nation." Also on Spitzer's to do list: judicial pay raises, Wick's Law reform and the Bruno NYRA franchise. Elizabeth Benjamin at the Daily Politics has more:
At the top of Spitzer's to-do list is campaign finance reform, which he called "the most significant remaining piece of reform legislation." The governor said he will propose a bill next Monday that will "put New York in the lead of states around the nation" in this arena.
Also on Monday, Spitzer plans to release the details of a proposal to reform the state's notoriously shadowy authorities, which make up the state's so-called "shadow government," operating with very little oversight. The authorities have long been considered patronage dumping grounds and have been the site of numerous scandals in recent years.
Spitzer said he will be proposing a constitutional amendment to change the state's redistricting process, which is currently controlled by the state Legislature. New York's legislative districts are gerrymandered to give incumbents on both sides of the aisle the best chance of retaining their seats. Spitzer said he expects this will be "a heavy lift for legislators," who are now acting "out of what might be viewed as narrow self-interest."
