Joseph Spector

ROC

Last year, 170 campaign contributors donated $50,000 or more to state-level candidates and party committees -- representing half of all the money that was given to campaigns, a report today found.

The small number of contributors in a state with 19.7 million residents was highlighted today by advocates for public financing of campaigns. They said wealthy donors are driving the system, and the state needs to enact a public-matching system to get big money out of politics.

Bill Mahoney, research director for the New York Public Interest Research Group, said the high contributors leads to a pay-to-play system in New York.

"We’ll see the budget come out next week, and I’m sure we’ll see tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions or billions, of pork and tax breaks that are going directly to these campaign contributors," said Mahoney, who authored the report. "This is a system that costs New Yorkers in their pocketbooks, and it’s something that makes New York more expensive for everybody."

The 170 campaign contributors gave $28.2 million to campaigns last year, and they used various state loopholes to do it, the report showed.

Hedge-fund giant James Simons ranked first on the list by giving $1 million to the state Democratic Committee’s housekeeping account -- which can accept a limitless amount of cash supposedly for party-building activities. Second on the list was New York City developer Leonard Litwin, who donated $1 million to New York campaigns through 21 different limited liability companies, NYPIRG said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo was the main beneficiary of the contributions, even as he says he supports a system of public financing. The state Democratic Committee collected the most, $6 million, and ran ads on Cuomo's behalf, while the governor's campaign account received $5.2 million. Together, they received 40 percent of the total spend by the mega-donors, the report said.

In January, Cuomo reported having $33 million in his campaign account -- the most of any governor in the country.

Lawmakers and Cuomo are discussing whether to include a public-financing system in the state budget for the fiscal year that starts April 1. Senate Republicans have opposed the idea, but Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said today that, "Everything is being discussed."

Last year, 170 campaign contributors donated $50,000 or more to state-level candidates and party committees -- representing half of all the money that was given to campaigns, a report today found.

The small number of contributors in a state with 19.7 million residents was highlighted today by advocates for public financing of campaigns. They said wealthy donors are driving the system, and the state needs to enact a public-matching system to get big money out of politics.

Bill Mahoney, research director for the New York Public Interest Research Group, said the high contributors leads to a pay-to-play system in New York.

"We’ll see the budget come out next week, and I’m sure we’ll see tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions or billions, of pork and tax breaks that are going directly to these campaign contributors," said Mahoney, who authored the report. "This is a system that costs New Yorkers in their pocketbooks, and it’s something that makes New York more expensive for everybody."

The 170 campaign contributors gave $28.2 million to campaigns last year, and they used various state loopholes to do it, the report showed.

Hedge-fund giant James Simons ranked first on the list by giving $1 million to the state Democratic Committee’s housekeeping account -- which can accept a limitless amount of cash supposedly for party-building activities. Second on the list was New York City developer Leonard Litwin, who donated $1 million to New York campaigns through 21 different limited liability companies, NYPIRG said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo was the main beneficiary of the contributions, even as he says he supports a system of public financing. The state Democratic Committee collected the most, $6 million, and ran ads on Cuomo's behalf, while the governor's campaign account received $5.2 million. Together, they received 40 percent of the total spend by the mega-donors, the report said.

In January, Cuomo reported having $33 million in his campaign account -- the most of any governor in the country.

Lawmakers and Cuomo are discussing whether to include a public-financing system in the state budget for the fiscal year that starts April 1. Senate Republicans have opposed the idea, but Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said today that, "Everything is being discussed."

Nypirg Top Donors 2013 by jspector