May 6, 2013 Senator Thomas O'Mara Chair, Senate Elections Committee Legislative Office Building Room 812 188

State Street Albany, NY 12247 Dear Senator O'Mara: We understand that the Senate Elections Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the topic of public financing of elections, examining both the existing system of public campaign finance in New York City and the proposed legislation to create a similar mechanism for state elections. As you know, the Working Families Party has been a consistent advocate for public financing of elections which, in combination with strict enforcement and contribution limits, serves to reduce the corrupting influence of money in politics. Especially in the wake of recent corruption scandals, the need for this reform is more urgent than ever. However, we were disturbed to read the comments from Senate Republican Spokesman Scott Reif in Friday's Journal News claiming that the WFP supports the proposal so that our party can get its "dirty hands" on public campaign money. In the Times Union's Capital Confidential blog, Mr. Reif repeated and elaborated on his views, accusing the Working Families Party of having been "found to have violated campaign finance laws." As the Times Union noted in further coverage of the story, Mr. Reifs statement is incorrect. No judicial entity has charged the WFP with wrongdoing, and there have been no findings that it violated the law. Those comments should be repudiated both by him and by you. This assertion is made routinely by our political opponents, and no doubt will be again tomorrow as part of a smear campaign. But to paraphrase Senator Moynihan, you may be entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts. There was indeed a widely publicized investigation into the WFP as a result of our work in the 2009 NYC City Council elections. A well-organized effort to discredit the WFP combined with unsourced stories in the NY Post and City Hall News did, through sheer repetition, leave some people believing that we must be guilty. The New York Post alone ran scores of articles and editorials denouncing the WFP even before the investigation was complete. While it seems possible that Republican staffers only get their news from the Post, we retain a shred of hope that that is not the case.
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Eventually, in mid-2010, the investigation by the US Attorney's office ended without any finding of wrongdoing. You perhaps will not be surprised to learn that the news outlets that had spilled barrels of ink disparaging us could not be troubled to note that the investigation had closed. Since then, the City's Campaign Finance Board has done multi-year audits of all of the candidates who were backed by the WFP. Five audits into candidates have been completed, and as I'm sure you are aware, there were no violations found relating to our work on those campaigns. There are four more audits yet to be completed, and we are hopeful that our clean bill of health will be affirmed in all cases. One investigation into the WFPs role in the same election persists, revived even though the US Attorneys Office found no wrong-doing. Oddly, the special prosecutor appointed has scarcely any relevant experience as a prosecutor, and so we are concerned about the mis-use of judicial power. Still, there have been no findings of wrongdoing whatsoever. Common decency would suggest that Mr. Reif and the Senate Republicans should apologize for their erroneous claims against us. We assume it is just a mistake on your part, and we ask that you make any such apology public. When allegations once proven false continue to be repeated as if they were true, something is rotten. One might fairly wonder if the goal is indeed to get at the truth, or merely to continue the mud-slinging. In reality, this hearing seems to be mostly an attempt to impugn the largely successful NYC system, not to understand it. Some have suggested that the Senate Republicans oppose public financing because they benefit from the current system that fosters what Preet Bahara called a show me the money culture. It was recently reported that Senate Republicans were the beneficiaries of more than $400,000 in campaign contributions from Walmart since 2010, and that the special tax credit they advocated for including in this year's minimum wage bill will save Walmart between $20 million and $40 million annually. Perhaps that is just a happy coincidence. But what is clear is that the Senate opposes changing an undeniably broken system. Nevertheless, if the Working Families Party is going to be discussed and dissected at your hearing tomorrow, we respectfully request the opportunity to be allowed to testify and present the facts. Surely any sense of fair play requires that you provide us this opportunity. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,

Daniel Cantor Executive Director Working Families Party