Public Financing of elections gives all of us a chance to run a competitive race for elected offices. The campaign to get there in New York is called Fair Elections. We have a chance this year but we all have to push to get this done. State Senate Speaker, Andrea Stewart Cousins has been a champion and she is expected to introduce her bill from last year (with some positive tweaks). Our Governor has included this in his budget and at this point we have to trust he will stand by his position. Many of our old time champions in the State Assembly are now balking – what’s new? However, our Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and our neighboring Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton are strong supporters. But they need to know that the community is behind them to take on Speaker Carl Heastie who is one of the balkers. Please support this effort on your social media platforms, please write a letter to the editor, and please come to Albany on Tuesday, February 12 for Fair Elections Lobby Day.
If you need more information go to https://fairelectionsny.org/ and/or call Wanda Mead Campbell at Citizen Action at 607-727-8110.