Talk about being in the pocket of unions!
Two mayoral hopefuls went out of their way to make sure labor organizations would be protected under new campaign-finance rules set to take effect before the 2013 race to replace Mayor Bloomberg.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio — two of at least five Democrats eyeing the job and courting union leaders in the process — both implored the city Campaign Finance Board to exempt unions and nonprofits from the stringent disclosure rules it recently adopted.
In testimony last month, Quinn asked CFB to exempt “member-to-member communications” from the new reporting requirements — which basically force organizations to disclose expenditures if they spend more than $1,000 on an election and report its contributors if they shell out more than $5,000.
“This position was not only advocated strongly by many labor organizations who testified, but also by almost every civic organization,” Quinn said.
In de Blasio’s testimony, he said: “I believe that all communications to members, including mailings to members, should not be considered reportable as independent expenditures. It is critical for nonprofit organizations, including labor unions, to be able to take part in the democratic process.”
Following testimony, the Campaign Finance Board nixed some of the requirements, including what unions spend on fliers that their members hand out to back candidates.