Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

independent expenditures

independent expenditures

  • City Council Passes New Disclosure Requirements for Spending to Influence Votes on Ballot Referendums

    Passing out ballot info (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)


    Update: The New York City Council passed the campaign finance amendment on January 19, 2022.

    The New York City Council is set to pass legislation this week that would require entities spending to influence voters in local referendums to disclose their funders.

    The law would close a loophole in the city's campaign finance law that lawmakers, good government groups, and campaign finance regulators have decried for years. If signed by the mayor, so-called independent expenditures (IEs) of $5,000 or more would be

    ...
  • NYC Campaign Finance Board Continues Crackdown on Lack of Disclosures by Independent Spenders

    City Hall (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    The New York City Campaign Finance Board is expected to take action Thursday against a slate of political action committees (PACs) as the agency continues to audit the 2021 city elections. The alleged violations range from failing to report contributions to not disclosing the individuals behind a corporate donor – gaps that make it difficult to track the flow of tens of thousands of dollars spent to influence voters.

    They involve five entities known as independent

    ...
  • Bills Would Further Restrict Coordination Between City Candidates and Independent Expenditure Campaigns

    mark tch co

    Council Member Ben Kallos, center (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    As the city heads into the 2021 municipal elections that are already drawing hundreds of candidates and will see many millions of dollars in campaign spending, a City Council member wants to preempt violations of the law on independent expenditures by increasing penalties. 

    Council Member Ben Kallos, a Democrat from the Upper East Side who is running for Manhattan borough president in the 2021 election cycle where all of city government is on the ballot, will introduce two bills on Thursday to penalize

    ...
  • After Ballot Proposal Spending, Council Member Eyes Expansion of Independent Expenditure Disclosure

    107 123 c3560 1

    One PBA IE on 2019 ballot question 2 (photo via Campaign Finance Board filing)


    Just after an election where the issue became especially apparent, a New York City lawmaker is planning to introduce legislation to close a loophole that has allowed independent expenditure committees to shield donors when they spend money to sway voters on ballot proposals. The potential change in city law would bring certain donor disclosure rules in line with state regulations and extend other city regulations to what is already required for political spending on candidates by

    ...
  • A Smattering of Independent Expenditures in City Election Cycle

    moya ie htc screenshot via cfb

    (IE mailer on behalf of Francisco Moya by the hotel workers union)


    In 2013, independent expenditures by shadowy groups became a dominant talking point around the city’s elections that year. Large spending in races up and down the ballot led to legal changes post-election, but candidates that year benefitted from -- and were hurt by -- large sums of campaign money from groups forbidden from coordinating with their campaigns, but with clear stakes in the outcomes of the elections.

    In 2013, independent groups tied to big real

    ...
  • Super PAC’s Big Primary Spending Mostly Comes Up Short

    rivera crowd campaign site

    Sen. Rivera (photo: Rivera's campaign website)


    A Super PAC that spent more than a million dollars on state legislative primaries mostly came up short on Tuesday. New Yorkers for Independent Action supported candidates who back its main issue: a proposed education investment tax credit that would largely help charter and private schools, and used its deep resources to attack those candidates’ opponents. The tax credit legislation has stalled in Albany and NYIA is

    ...
  • Campaign Finance Board Considers Rules Changes, Including Controversial 'Coordination' Proposal

    city hall via nyctransition

    City Hall (photo via @NYCtransition)


    Ahead of next year’s elections, the New York City Campaign Finance Board is considering a number of rules changes that would make the city campaign finance system more efficient and clear, and less onerous. One proposal on the list, however, has raised the hackles of unions, nonprofits, and campaign finance experts.

    After every four-year city election cycle, the Campaign Finance Board is busy at work analyzing potential deficiencies in the campaign finance system and taking steps to

    ...
  • Board of Elections to Consider Emergency Regulations for Independent Expenditures

    cuomo podium state of the state

    Gov. Cuomo (photo: Governor's Office on Flickr)


    The State Board of Elections is set to consider a set of emergency regulations governing independent expenditure campaigns at its board meeting on Thursday morning in Albany. The regulations will come just two days after state legislative primary elections and two months before the general election. Political action committees (PACs) and Super Pacs, or independent expenditure committees, have already had a significant presence in this year’s primary contests.

    The BOE is

    ...