The Remarks Of Speaker Sheldon Silver

Fair Elections Lobby Day

Capitol, Million Dollar Staircase, Albany, NY
Tuesday, March 11, 2014

[As Prepared for Delivery]


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Members of Fair Elections for New York …

Thank you for amplifying the People's voice in our government.

You are doing an outstanding of standing up for our Democracy and I am proud to be here with you today.

These are hectic times, so let me get right to the point.

The Assembly Majority is leading the way - and has led the way - on campaign finance reform and we will do it again this week.

Because Senate leadership refused to take up our legislation …

Because they have refused to give New Yorkers a stronger voice in our electoral process …

We are making the Fair Elections Act part of the Assembly's budget resolution that we will pass tomorrow.

We are going to level the playing field for all New Yorkers and especially for all New Yorkers who want to compete for public office.

As you know, early in 2013, I introduced legislation intended to open the electoral process. I shared our bill with your leadership and asked you how we could make it a stronger bill.

On May 7th of 2013 - for the tenth time - we passed the Fair Elections Act in order to:

That is our Fair Elections Act and that is what we will pass with our budget resolution tomorrow.

As you know, the Governor has included a fair elections/campaign finance reform in his executive budget proposal.

Between now and April 1st, when the enacted 2014/2015 state budget is due, that is how long we have to convince the Senate to do the right thing and pass campaign finance reform.

Common sense dictates that the time and effort elected officeholders must spend raising money is time and effort not being invested in what really matters: The education of our children, public health and safety, affordable housing, job creation, immigration reform, and the list goes on and on.

The time for campaign finance reform is now!

So, this afternoon, deliver your message loudly and clearly.

Make sure all of Albany can hear you.

Together, we can give New Yorkers a more powerful voice here in Albany, the voice that we deserve.

Let's get it done.