Public Campaign Finance Commission Holds Organizational Meeting

This week, the Public Campaign Finance Commission held an organizational meetingin New York City to begin to the process of determining the details of a publicly financed campaign system. The commission agreed to hold five public meetings across the state over the coming months. According to reports, the first hearing will be held Sept. 10 at 4 p.m. at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Others are set for Sept. 18 in Albany, Oct. 10 in Smithtown and Oct. 29 in Buffalo. No date was decided for the fifth invitation-only hearing.

At the first meeting, an appointee of the Governor put forward a resolution calling for the recommendations of the commission be voted on in a single package, with a single vote. Objections were raised by the minority legislative leader’s appointees, arguing that the resolution is in direct conflict with the enacting legislation. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 7 to 2. Bill Lipton, state director for the Working Families Party proffered that the resolution was “a transparent effort to tie public financing and ending fusion voting together.” The Working Families Party and the Conservative Party have filed separate lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the commission’s ability to end fusion voting, or more generally, their ability to create or repeal law.