News: June 2008 Archives
New York, New York (June 20, 2008)--Luke Henry, challenger to Speaker Sheldon Silver in the 64th Assembly District primary, applauds the New York State Assembly for addressing the dire state of New York's campaign finance laws. By enacting the 2010 Campaign Finance Reform Act, Assembly Democrats demonstrated their commitment to creating an electoral system in which the influence of special interests and lobbyists is limited and incumbency is no longer a guarantor of undue monetary advantage; however, the legislation is flawed.
While this bill represents a step forward in the pursuit of serious campaign finance reform, the Assembly bill contains several provisions that would limit its effectiveness. The bill implements a statewide version of the failed federal equivalent. In fact, on the same day that the New York State Assembly passed a matching fund public finance system, Senator Barack Obama opted out of the federal public financing system because it is inadequately equipped to fund presidential races.
Under the structure of the Assembly bill, the 2006 gubernatorial general election would have cost the public over $62 million. The public financing system would also fund gubernatorial primary elections, as well as all other primary and general state-level elections. With high expenditure limits and a matching structure that forces the public to account for four-fifths of those expenditures, this legislation does not accomplish its stated goal of limiting the amount of money spent on campaigns. Rather, it shifts the burden of astronomically costly elections to public coffers.
Luke Henry calls on Speaker Sheldon Silver to back a clean money, clean elections campaign finance system, under which candidates conduct campaign activities with a lump sum of state-provided funds. Under such a system, the ties between lawmakers and moneyed interests are severed entirely and the cost of statewide elections limited.
"Campaign finance reform is the reform that makes all others possible," said Luke Henry. "The Assembly bill is a good attempt at enacting such reform, but full public financing is an effective means to restore truly representative democracy in the state of New York."
For more information, please contact Kate Tomassi at (646) 408-4452, press@lukehenry.org.
Luke Henry today condemned the 5-4 vote of the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) to authorize the largest rent increases in New York City in nearly two decades.
"With rent increases for the entire city determined by an unaccountable body, it isn't surprising that the outcome did not fairly reflect the interest of the public," said Luke Henry. "This vote highlights the need for City Council oversight of Mayoral appointments, increased representation of tenant interests, expanded qualifications for public members, and a fairer methodology to determine rent adjustments."
The lack of oversight over the RGB emblemizes the culture of legislative neglect that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has cultivated during his 32 years in Albany. It is impossible that the RGB carefully considered all the factors available in order to properly base a rent adjustment determination, as the board received a 22-page memo outlining the proposed increases at 9 a.m. the morning of the vote.
The 2008 RGB Income and Expense Study indicated that median rental incomes have increased while the median operating costs have decreased. The RGB yielded to the interests of landlords without taking statistical realities into account and without providing convincing justification for its determination.
Henry called for swift adoption of the Rent Board Reform Bill (S.8235/A.11097), legislation that would require the RGB to consider income and expense data in determining rent adjustments.
For more information, please contact Kate Tomassi at (646) 408-4452, press@lukehenry.org.
Luke was on this show. You can hear him 38 minutes into this podcast.
http://podcast.talk1300.com/2008/06/18/wednesday-june-18.aspx
New York, New York (June 17, 2008)--Luke Henry has been endorsed by Democracy for New York City with 67% of the vote.
"As I work to defeat Sheldon Silver and fix his broken state government, I will be proud to have the members of DFNYC at my side. With this important endorsement, I believe we are well on our way to winning in September and bringing our progressive agenda of change to Albany," Henry said.
"We are pleased that DFNYC's members believe in the change that I want to bring to the citizens of the 64th Assembly District and to all New Yorkers. That includes transforming the way that Albany works to avoid the stalemates to which New Yorkers unfortunately have grown so accustomed," added the candidate.
DFNYC Executive Director Tracey Denton said of the endorsement, "Luke Henry has what it takes to bring much needed change to New York. He is running a very strong campaign and he is committed to the values of the Democracy for America community including healthcare for all, civil rights, environmental protection, and better transportation in New York City and beyond. We look forward to helping him in his challenge to incumbent Assembly Speaker Silver."
DFNYC, an independent, progressive political action committee of at least 1,500 members, with 200 eligible voting members, is the local coalition group of Democracy for America, the grassroots organization founded by Howard Dean after his presidential campaign.
For more information, please contact Kate Tomassi at (646) 408-4452 or
Governor Paterson has said that NY will recognize legal same-sex marriages from other states and countries. He's taking calls (it's not technically a poll) on whether people support it. If you're interested in taking 15 seconds to lodge your support, just call 1-518-474-8390 and say 'I support the Governor's directive on marriage,' then give them your 5 digit (New York) zip code.
New York, New York (June 3, 2008)--On June 3, the first day of petitioning, Luke Henry proposed a set of reforms designed to ease New York's petition requirements, which are overly restrictive and can result in even strong candidates being thrown off the ballot.
"After years of Sheldon Silver's failed leadership, New York's petition requirements remain the worst in the nation--arcane, unnecessary, and needlessly onerous," said Henry. "The specific ballot-access reforms that I have set forth today will help to ensure that New York voters have the choice of candidates they deserve on election day by easing petition requirements. If elected, I will work hard to see that these reforms become the law."
Specifically, Henry proposed the following:
* The number of signatures required should be cut in half;
* The amount of time required to obtain the signatures should be doubled; and
* Individuals should be allowed to sign more than one petition.
Last week, the campaign announced that it has hired petitioning expert Alan Zimmerman to direct its petitioning operation. Zimmerman specializes in helping candidates overcome New York's notoriously burdensome petition requirements and gain access to the ballot.
For more information, please contact Kate Tomassi at (646) 408-4452, press@lukehenry.org.
