Action Item: Does your State Senator believe in closing the LLC loophole?
On Thursday, The Albany Project posed an interesting question regarding the LLC loophole for campaign contributions… simple question, where does your Senator stand?
Does Your state Senator support closing the LLC loophole? There are many aspects of the Governor’s CFR proposal that was “killed” by Bruno on Monday that I enthusiastically support. Campaign finance in New York is a mess. It’s like the wild west out there. With a modicum of creativity and a ton of money, one can essentially give pretty much as much money as you want to whomever you want. Even within the current law, wealthy individuals and interests can give enormous sums to buy influence.
But, how anyone can defend with a straight face the practice of wealthy donors creating infinite numbers of corporate subsidiaries and LLCs to flood the process with more and more money is simply beyond me.
So, where does your state Senator stand on this issue? Why not give them a call and find out. You can find contact info or even figure out who your Senator is here.
Give them a ring and simply ask, “Do you support closing the LLC loophoole?” It’s a simple question and it deserves a simple answer. Yes or no should suffice. If you are able to get an answer, let us know. You can post it here or drop me some mail. We’ll keep a running tally of where every Senator stands on this issue.
So where does your State Senator stand? Give ‘em a call and let us know what you hear.
Contact info below the fold:
Senator Jim Alesi:
Albany Office:
Room 905, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
(518) 455-2015
Rochester Office:
220 Packett’s Landing
Fairport, NY 14450
(585) 223-1800
Senator Michael Nozzolio:
Albany Office:
Room 409 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
(518)455-2366/Fax (518)426-6953
Seneca Falls Office:
119 Fall Street
Seneca Falls, NY 13148
Toll-free 1-888-568-9816/Fax (315)568-2090
Senator Joseph E. Robach
Albany Office:
902 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
(518) 455-2909
Rochester Office:
2300 W. Ridge Road
Rochester, NY 14626
(585) 225-3650
[...] Where do you and your state senator stand on campaign contributions by Limited Liability Companies? [...]
This in from the Finger Lakes Times, albeit a little late, but still good news…once the crack is in the dam, the wall WILL fall:
Bianchi Pleads Guilty To Election Law Violation
posted by Greg Cotterill on Tuesday June 26th 3:26pm
Seneca County Republican Chairman Angelo Bianchi was charged Monday with violating election laws.
Bianchi plead guilty Monday night in Junius Town Court. Court documents accused Bianchi of collecting political donations totaling $5,450 from individuals and depositing the money into his personal account. Bianchi then used the money to make political contributions. The money was collected between January 2004 and December 2004.
Junius Town Justice Brian Laird fined Bianchi $100 and gave him a year conditional discharge. One of the conditions of the discharge is that Bianchi step down as the Seneca County Republican Chairman. He has until January next year to resign the leadership position.
State Police investigators would not comment on the case, instead referring questions to Steuben County District Attorney John Tunney. Tunney’s secretary said he was unavailable until Thursday.