Citizens Union

Programs, Statements, And Testimony

City Council Acts on CU Advertising Report

Just weeks after Citizens Union released Tax Dollars At "Work" - City Council Spending on Advertising, a report that analyzed how pubic funds are used by City Council members for advertising, the Council, under the leadership of Speaker Christine Quinn, issued new rules governing the practice. The rules reform the way in which ads can be used and bans those that are strictly self-promotional. CU's report made specific recommendations for greater disclosure and transparency, policy changes to limit advertisements to those that provide a clear public benefit, and enforcement of current bans on tax funded advertising during election years - all of which are now part of the Council's new rules, which can be read here and click here for CU statement about these rule changes.

NYS Campaign Finance Reform

Citizens Union and its good government partners have continued to push for passage of Governor Spitzer's campaign finance reform proposal, hailing it as a good first step to reform the process, with public financing as the ultimate goal. A coalition of ten organizations sent a joint letter to all two hundred and twelve legislators urging them to pass the current reform proposal. Citizens Union along with its good government partners have also written to the Senate Majority Leader to push him to make good on his promise to hold public hearings on the subject.

Citizens Union Presses for Campaign Finance Reform

Citizens Union issued a statement calling upon NYS elected officials to publicly disclose their positions and enact campaign finance reform. Working with its good government colleagues, specifically NYPIRG, CU will contact individual state legislators over the next two weeks and ask them to tell us - and their constituents - where they stand on reforming the state’s campaign finance laws. In the near future, CU will release our findings to the public.

Citizens Union Advances Accountability

Today Citizens Union announced its Candidate Accountability Project to increase accountability in the actions of government. Citizens Union issued its announcement with Major Bloomberg on the occasion of his most recent periodic self-evaluation. As a part of the Candidate Accountability Project, Citizens Union will include in its evaluation of candidates for office whether they committed to such an examination of their actions and how well they reported to their voters. Click here for Citizens Union's statement and here to read the news release.

Circumventing Democracy: The Flawed System for Filling Vacancies in New York State, a new briefing report issued by Citizens Union Foundation, examines the way in which vacancies for elected office are filled and the prevalence of special election winners in the State Legislature. This study finds that 31% of New York State Legislators are first elected to office in special elections. The report proposes reforms to give voters a more meaningful role in filling vacant seats. Click here to read the full report.

Citizens Union Testifies on Lobby Law

Citizens Union provided testimony to the City Council in support of amendments to the city’s local lobbying law that would clarify reporting requirements for lobbyists.

City Budget Reforms

Citizens Union issues statement supporting new city budget reforms.

Campaign Finance

Citizens Union issues a statement on the February special election results and residency requirements for City Council Candidates. In this statement the organization supports Speaker Quinn's decision to review the matter and calls on the Campaign Finance Board to close the loophole and require candidates to legally residency in the district for which they are running or forfeit eligibility for funding under the program. Click here to read this statement.

Albany Ethic Reform

Citizens Union issues statement in support of new legislation to address serious deficiencies is the regulation of lobbying and oversight over ethics in government while calling on the Governor and Legislative leaders to consider suggestions on how to further strengthen ethics oversight and enforcement. In addition, CU asks the Governor and Legislature to "End Pay to Play" practices and restrict the personal use of campaign contributions. A joint response to the proposed reforms was issued by Citizens Union and its civic partners.

New Voting Machines

After attending several of the voting machines demonstrations that took place in the five boroughs of the city over the past two months, Citizens Union Foundation provided testimony to the Board of Elections and the New York City Council that addressed concerns with all four of the machines that are currently seeking certification. While neither Citizens Union Foundation nor Citizens Union have taken a position on which machine New York City should select we continue to play an active role in ensuring that the machine selection process is open and transparent and the final machine selected will live up to New Yorkers requirements for security, accessibility and ease of use. CUF’s testimony highlights pros and cons of all machines and outlines general concerns with the process moving forward.

Ethics Laws

• Citizens Union joined its good government colleagues in urging new Governor Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to overhaul the ethics laws in New York state in light of the unprecedented number of scandals and abuse of office. To read the news release and the package of proposed ethics reforms, click here.

• Citizens Union testified before a hearing of the Government Operations Committee of the City Council on the issue of campaign finance reform. CU called for restrictions on contributions from those that “do business” with the city and other improvements in the NYC campaign finance program. To read Citizens Union’s full testimony, click here.

• Citizens Union called upon the New York State Legislature to change the way in which justices of the state Supreme Court are selected in New York by passing a constitutional amendment that establishes an appointment system for such judges. As an interim step, Citizens Union supported a time limited reform of the judicial nominating convention process. Click here to read Citizens Union's position statement on judicial selection and here for a press release.

• Citizens Union Foundation addressed the Annual Public Meeting of the NYC Voter Assistance Commission to report on our Poll Worker Recruitment Program and other election-related activities. CUF called for new efforts to educate voters and poll workers as New York replaces the old lever voting machines and introduces new voting technology. Click here to read this testimony.

• Citizens Union called on Governor Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Bruno and Assembly Speaker Silver to postpone a final vote by the Public Authorities Control Board on the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn for a defined period of time to ensure that the public has access to important financial information and so that important issues highlighted by the public and in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement can be addressed. To view CU’s letter to the leaders click here

• Citizens Union testified before a hearing of the Government Operations Committee of the City Council on the issue of elected official compensation. The Council was considering salary changes after receiving a report on the issue from a mayoral commission recommending pay raises for all city elected officials. To read Citizens Union’s full testimony, click here.

• The Assembly Committee on Government Operations and the Legislative Task Force on Redistricting held joint hearings in New York City. The hearing was hosted by seven Assemblymembers and co-chaired by RoAnn Destito (D-Rome) and Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan). For a complete transcript of the hearings click here; for Citizens Union's testimony click here; and for the NAACP's addendum to their testimony click here.

• CU Calls for Lengthened Public Comment Period for Atlantic Yards Proposal. To read Citizens Union’s full statement, click here.

• Citizens Union, along with a coalition of other good government and political reform organizations, filed an amicus brief in support of the Albany Times Union’s lawsuit against the New York State Legislature regarding failure to disclose "member items" totaling hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

• Citizens Union testifies on Elected Official Compensation.

• Citizens Union submits an amicus brief in support of Judge Gleeson’s second circuit court decision declaring the state’s judicial nominating process for Supreme Court judicial candidates unconstitutional. Citizens Union argues for more deliberative consideration of interim and permanent remedies to address the matter.

• Testimony to the City Council on Lobbying Reform Bills

• Drawing the Line: Redistricting and Non-Competitive Elections in New York State -- Citizens Union Foundation with the School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, CUNY hosted, a half day symposium on legislative redistricting on April 28th. Click here for conference materials, candidate statements, and a link to a streaming video of the event.

• Statement by Citizens Union and Citizens Union Foundation on Legislative and Congressional Redistricting Reform

• Citizens Union Foundation and Citizens Union jointly submitted an amicus brief, on the current lawsuit between the Department of Justice and New York State on the issue of compliance with HAVA. Click here for a summary and a link to the amicus brief (PDF 2MB)

• Citizens Union files amicus brief in support of the Class Size Coalition. The brief does not address the substance of the issue, but rather the first amendment right of citizens to petition their government. Click here to read a pdf of the brief (7MB).

• Testimony to the NYC Conflict of Interest Bureau on the Connection between Campaign Consulting and Lobbying

• Citizens Union files Amicus Brief in support of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund case against New York State over the way in which it created the second Surrogate Court seat in Kings County (Brooklyn). Click here to read a pdf of the brief.

• Statement of Opposition to Extending Term Limits for New York City Council Members