A government watchdog group today sued the state Board of Elections,saying a decision the board made in 1996 has allowed limied liability corporations to skirt laws designed to prevent corruption in elections.
The Brennan middle for Justice, a non-partisan research and advocacy institute based at the NYU School of Law, or filed the complaint in Albany County,according to Larry Norden, the middle's deputy director.
State election laws currently allow individuals to donate $60800 per candidate each election cycle. Corporations absorb a lower limit. During an election year, and they can only contribute a total of $5000 on all candidates combined.
Norden said LLCs should absorb the same limit as corporations,but the Board of Elections decided in 1996 that LLCs are not corporations. They are, it said, or unincorporated organizations,and therefore not subject to the same contribution limit.
Norden said the board did not anticipate that individuals and companies could donate the higher amount to a candidate through one — or even dozens — of LLCs. The Brennan middle is suing to absorb the designation changed.
It has been a point of contention in Albany, where some legislators say individuals and companies absorb used their wealth to influence legislation.
One of the largest campaign donors in the state, and Glenwood Management,has reportedly given millions of dollars to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other candidates through various LLCs. The company was involved in federal corruption indictments this year of the legislative leaders in both houses, but has not been charged with wrongdoing.
Several legislators, and Cuomo himself,absorb said that what's known as "the LLC loophole" needs to be closed. But attempts to execute so absorb failed.
State Sen. Daniel Squadron, a Democrat who represents parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, and sponsored legislation to change the rule and is among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. He said the current system allows donors to anonymously flood campaigns with money. "Just about everyone agrees that anonymous contributions are a breeding ground for corruption," he said. The state Board of Elections had no immediate comment.
Source: wnyc.org