The gridlock in New York's state capitol has gone on for way too long. It is becoming increasingly clear that working in Albany to bring about change in the way Albany operates is not enough. This election year, which may bring historic change to the State Senate, provides us with a perfect opportunity to use the election and campaign events to move reform issues back to the center of political discussions in New York.  We have to show our elected officials that the issues that we work on to bring effective and accountable state government to New York are supported by ordinary New Yorkers throughout the state. We can't do that simply by lobbying officials once they've arrived in Albany.  We have to move the discussion into districts throughout the state. The Pledge for Change campaign is designed to do precisely that.
 

My former colleague, Meredith McGehee, has a scathing, incisive piece on the pathetic Federal Election Commission in Roll Call today ($$ - but an excerpt here from Josh Z).  In it she says:

Who was a key player in the design of the FEC 30+ years ago?  A US Rep long forgotten to history, but a fearsome power in the House at the time.  Wayne Hays chaired the House Administration Committee and the DCCC, wielding power over everything from campaign laws to campaign money and office furniture -- and abusing his power to a degree that would make Tom Delay envious.

When Hays did not succeed in blocking reform legislation entirely, he made sure that the FEC would not be able to enforce the law.

He was brought down in a scandal - hiring a "secretary", Elizabeth Ray, who later said, "I can't type, I can't file, I can't even answer the phone."  But part of his legacy, the FEC, lives on.

It turns out a good defense does make a pretty good offense.

The Connecticut Legislature wrapped up its 2008 session early Thursday morning. Although it was generally dubbed a "Do Nothing" session, Connecticut Common Cause was able to pass one essential bill and make sure a number of other bills aimed at either turning the clock on reform didn't head to the governor's desk.

Sure, it's easier to kill a bill than push a bill, but in the crush of the final days of session it is always possible to sneak a rat into a marginally related bill. Connecticut Common Cause checked every bill passed by the Legislature. While we chuckled at "An Act Concerning Beer Cooler Accessibility," which passed both chambers unanimously, we found nothing that would chisel away at any hard-fought reforms. 

That said, there were a number of bills that didn't make the cut this year and a few that did. For a short session where only supposedly essential are to be called, it was a good year.

The Connecticut General Assembly concludes its 2008 legislative session at midnight tonight, and for the first time in a long time, Connecticut Common Cause is playing defense as opposed to trying to shoehorn a reform at the last minute (in 2006, a critical campaign finance reform bill passed in the last two minutes.)

Bills that we were pushing for have either passed and been enacted into law, been tied down on the calendar with no hope of salvation or caught in internecine feuds between the House and Senate.

Now, we have to make sure that the so-called "Do Nothing Session" does nothing to turn back the clock on important reforms.

Today, the WaPo highlights the continuing embarassment to our democracy - or, at least, one of those embarassments: no agency to enforce campaign finance laws.

Of course, the hangup is still the highly controversial FEC nominee Hans von Spakovsky.  We've asked the presidential candidates and the Senate leaders to end the deadlock over the FEC nominees.  No movement.  No enforcement of campaign finance laws in a year with record-busting amounts of money being raised.