Apr 22, 2013 — Anti-corruption proposals are proliferating in Albany, following two high profile bribery scandals. Some of them focus on the long neglected state Board of Elections, which hasn't even had an investigator on staff in over a year.  Go to full article

Apr 17, 2013 — At the New York State Capitol, lawmakers are scrambling to put forward plans responding to the recent twin corruption scandals involving bribery charges against a state Senator and Assemblyman.

Tuesday it was the Assembly Democrats' turn to weigh in, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo rolled out two more components of his own reform plan.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Apr 16, 2013 — New York State lawmakers returned to work after a two week spring break. It's their first meeting since two lawmakers have been charged with bribery in corruption scandals.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Feb 22, 2013 — A group pressing for public campaign financing has compiled a list of large corporations who gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to some New York lawmakers. They charge that the donations are preventing the legislature from closing what they say are corporate tax loopholes.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Feb 04, 2013 — New York's newest Senator, Cecilia Tkaczyk, has been on the job for just over a week now, after a two and half month long court battle over absentee ballots resulted in a narrrow 18-vote win for her.

Tkaczyk, a sheep farmer, school board member and former legislative housing analyst, is a Democrat who won the newly drawn Senate seat in the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys that was designed for a Republican. Karen DeWitt spoke to Senator Tkaczyk during one of her first days on the job.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, May 02, 2012 — Democrats and Republicans in the State Senate are engaged in some good old-fashioned partisan squabbling over reform of the state's campaign finance system. In Albany, Karen DeWitt has more:  Go to full article

Feb 17, 2012 — A new bipartisan group is endorsing Governor Andrew Cuomo's call for a change in the way New York State politicians finance their campaigns. The group--NY Lead--includes some big names in business, like David Rockefeller and George Soros's son Jonathan Soros...and former elected officials from the democratic and republican parties.

NY Lead is pushing for a public financing system, which it says will encourage candidates to fund their campaigns by getting lots of small donations. It's also calling for lower limits on individual and business contributions.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Feb 16, 2012 — A new bipartisan coalition of former elected officials, and business and civic leaders, is endorsing Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan for campaign finance reform.

The group includes wealthy civic leaders including David Rockefeller, Jonathan Soros, the son of George Soros, and Frederick A.O. Schwartz, who is now with NYU's Brennan Center as well as former elected officials of both major parties. (Correction: the spokesman for the group is former North Country Congressman Scott Murphy, not Chris Murphy.)  Go to full article

Montpelier, VT, Jan 23, 2012 — Saturday marked the two-year anniversary of the supreme court Citizens United decision. The court voted 5-4, saying that corporations have the same protected speech rights as people, including the right to make unlimited financial contributions to groups who want to influence elections. That's upsetting to a lot of Vermonters. And as Sarah Harris reports, they're working to change it.  Go to full article

Jun 13, 2007 — A North Country state Senator is proposing a series of meetings that would all but kill Governor Eliot Spitzer's efforts to reform how election campaigns are financed for this session. Jonathan Brown reports.  Go to full article