Will Bredderman reports for Crain’s New York Business
The ritual struggle over the state’s fiscal plan ended this weekend—with a $175 billion result.
Who budged on the budget, and who’s in the money? Read on.
WINNERS
1. Campaign consultants: That giant “cha-ching” heard Sunday morning from Buffalo to Montauk was the sound of dollar signs popping into the eyes of political strategists, pollsters and palm-card wizards. The budget committed $100 million annually toward public financing of state elections, devolving responsibility for designing such a system on an as-yet unnamed commission. Presumably the panel will create something like the city’s program, which matches every dollar from small contributors with $8 from taxpayers.
The argument for matching funds is that it reduces the influence of the rich and allows for outsiders to upset the status quo. What it seems to actually do is encourage hopeless or spurious candidacies and enrich political professionals without shaking the power of entrenched incumbents.
Recall this year’s 17-candidate dogpile of public advocate hopefuls. No more than four contenders were viable; the remainder were vanity campaigns or opportunities for the ambitious to build name recognition for future races at public expense. The Campaign Finance Board ladled out $7.1 million in matching funds, much of which fed the lobbyist-consultant-adviser-strategist complex that operates out of the average voter’s sight.ADVERTISING
The all-but lawless state races are nobody’s democratic ideal, but last year saw more than a dozen legislators defeated in either primary or general elections. By contrast, in 2017—when every city office went up for bid—just one sitting official lost her job to an upstart challenger. It seems the public finance system does not compensate for the structural advantages of incumbency.
It’s possible matching funds have reduced the influence of deep-pocketed interests. But the past decade of city politics has also witnessed the astounding expansion of independent expenditures, which let unions and business interests spend unlimited amounts on materials promoting the candidate of their choosing. These IEs too require an internal infrastructure of experts and advisers, and thus also help pay for the summer homes and college savings accounts of the consultant class.
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