Assemblymember Phil Steck (D-Colonie) announced legislation that he cosponsored to close the loophole allowing potentially unlimited campaign contributions through Limited Liability Companies (LLC) has passed the Assembly (A.1926). This legislation builds upon Assemblymember Steck’s push to fight corruption and reduce the influence that big spending special interests have on elections in New York.

“As elected officials, it’s our duty to represent the interests of the people who elect us, not to be a mouthpiece for a select few wealthy donors,” said Steck. “We’ve seen far too much corruption in recent years, and this legislation reflects the assembly’s commitment to cleaning up our government. I’m calling on the Senate to take action on this bill so that New Yorkers can have a government that is transparent and honest.”

Despite limits existing on how much an individual can donate to campaigns, the law treats LLC’s as individual donors, and not as extensions of the individual who set it up. This allows for wealthy individuals to create as many LLC’s as they need to donate as much money to as many campaigns as they desire. The assembly’s legislation sets a $5,000 contribution limit for LLC’s and requires that LLC owners clearly identify themselves so that donations can be attributed to them personally.

“It seems like every day you hear another story about corruption in politics,” added Steck. “We must make a commitment to our constituents and plainly say that enough is enough. We cannot allow wealthy interests to control our elections and have more influence than the hardworking families we are accountable to.”