New York City Campaign Finance Board
Carrion's 'pledged' versus actual, Squadron and Saujani's 'gross' versus 'net'
The problem with reporting on local candidates' fund-raising before their complete filings are available is that reporters usually have to rely on numbers provided by the candidates themselves. More
Lhota's fund-raising may impress G.O.P. leaders, but it's not Catsimatidis money
For Lhota, the key figure will be how much money he has left over, after paying start-up costs to launch his campaign, on top of fund-raising costs. One Republican operative not associated with any campaign said if Lhota has $500,000 left on hand after those costs, he's in great shape. More
How the 2013 Democrats have spent, and how much room they have left
Under New York City's distinctive program of public campaign financing, candidates can raise as much money as they want, but only some of it is eligible to be matched with public money at a 6:1 ratio, and there's a spending cap. More
(3)Quinn delays a bill she supports and Bloomberg opposes
Under pressure from Michael Bloomberg and other critics, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is delaying action on a bill she supports that would loosen campaign finance rules by allowing campaigns to coordinate with unions and corporations without that spending counting toward a candidate's cap. More
A bill to loosen campaign finance rules gets pushed to 2013
Bloomberg and Bloomberg BusinessWeek sometimes seem to coordinate. [Harry Siegel]
Proposed changes to the New York City campaign finance rules allowing more coordination between unions and campaigns won't be voted on this year. [@Mnitzky]
Here's the legislation, which is supported by Council Speaker Christine Quinn. [Legistar]
(1)Ed Koch: 'Atrocious' to equate campaign matching funds to city's Sandy relief
"I think it's atrocious that he should make that comment," Koch said in an interview. "I thnnk Mr. Carrion is dead wrong."
The money spent on the matching funds program is a "very small part of our budget," he said. "It will no way impede the rebuilding of New York."
Bloomberg criticized for violating the 'spirit' of campaign finance rules in 2009
The New York City Campaign Finance Board said today that Mayor Michael Bloomberg "contravened the spirit of disclosure" underlying city campaign finance rules, even if he didn't violate the letter of the law, when he gave a personal donation of more than a million dollars to the New York State Independence Party but did not immediately report it as a campaign expenditure. More
A G.O.P. mayoral contender argues that city contribution limits don't apply
The city changed the law so that even if you didn't take matching funds, you still had to abide by the lower limits.
But the state hadn't changed theirs.
That's basically McDonald and Laufer's argument.
(2)Obama takes donations by text, and maybe one day New York candidates will, too
"NYC’s matching funds program is built to encourage small contributions, and text message fundraising has the potential to make it easier for campaigns to reach more small-dollar donors," Friedman said. "We are watching closely to see how the technology works in the national elections."
There's already legislation in the New York City Council to allow donations of up to $100 to city candidates. Those donations would also be eligible for matching funds.
The bill was introduced in February by Gale Brewer, chairwoman of the Committee on Government Operations. More
John Liu's campaign finance filing, now with bundlers
In the most recent filings, Liu reports receiving 6.4 percent of his donations from intermediaries, an increase from the last filings, but still well behind the proportions from his potential mayoral opponents.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer reported getting 45 and 51 percent of their donations, respectively, from intermediaries, after having reported over 40 percent last time.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who raised more money than any candidate in this six-month filing period, reported about 21 percent of his donations from intermediaries. More
Leroy Comrie fined for a campaign-filing failure
City Councilman Leroy Comrie's campaign was fined $16,272 by city officials, in part because the two-term Democrat from Queens failed to file some paperwork with the New York City Campaign Finance Board. More
Quinn and de Blasio agree on how to count union spending in the 2013 mayor's race
Should unions be allowed to spend money communicating to their own members and not have it count as an independent expenditure during next year's mayor's race?
Two leading candidates say no. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio agree on this point and asked the New York City Campaign Finance Board to adjust their rules accordingly, reported Sally Goldenberg.
The push by Quinn and de Blasio helps underscore the huge role unions could, potentially, play in city politics in the post-Bloomberg era, which, resembles politics in the pre-Bloomberg era. More
Stringer and Quinn set the standard on bundlers, while de Blasio and Thompson are Liu-like
The problem with John Liu's campaign finances, at its most basic, is that he claims to have raised lots of money from lots of individual donors with relatively little help from intermediaries.
The intermediaries, or bundlers, are the people who help bring donations into a campaign but aren't officially working as fund-raisers. In plain language: They are extra-important money people, and therefore the very people who need to be identified if the city's campaign-finance disclosure requirements are to have any deterring effect whatsoever on favor-trading by the public officials who get elected with their help. More
Letitia James preparing for 2013 by paying off debt from 2009
In 2009, she raised $168,033 from private contributions and matching funds from the New York City Campaign Finance Board, but spent $178,668. Among her biggest expenses were $19,459.25 to the Parkside Group for polling and literature, $12,000 to the Victory Consulting Group for campaign consulting and polling, More
