Cuomo Abides by Spitzer Fund-Raising Limits, Mostly

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By Azi Paybarah

May 23, 2007 | 9:30 a.m.

Cuomo Abides by Spitzer Fund-Raising Limits, Mostly

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Here’s a fund-raising letter for Andrew Cuomo’s June 13 event at the swanky Le Parker Meridian Hotel. What’s interesting isn’t the fact that he’s fund-raising (who in Albany isn’t?) but rather the disclaimer at the bottom.

It’s basically the same as Eliot Spitzer’s self-imposed limit of accepting no more than $10,000 per contributor, way below the state’s legal limit of about $50,100. And it closes the loophole that allows limited liability corporations from giving endless amounts of money.

What’s missing on Cuomo's fund-raising piece, but included in Spitzer's, is a line that closes the loophole on corporate contributions.

Here’s the fine print at the bottom of Cuomo’s fundraising letter:

Andrew Cuomo 2010 will accept no more than $10,000 per election cycle from individuals, unions, political action committees, and trade associations. Partnerships and LLCs that make contributions will be required to specifically identify the partners responsible for the contribution, and that amount will be counted against each partner’s individual contribution limit. Total contributions from a corporation may not exceed $5,000 per calendar year aggregate to all New York state and local candidates and committees. Corporations, other entities and individuals are strictly prohibited from reimbursing another person/entity for making a contribution to Andrew Cuomo 2010. All contributors must be US citizens or permanent resident aliens (green card holder).

And here’s the line missing from Cuomo's fine print that's included in on Spitzer’s fund-raising materials:

Contributions made by a corporation’s affiliates and/or subsidiaries will be viewed as cumulative against that corporation’s $5,000 limit to Spitzer 2010. Spitzer 2010 will not accept contributions from at-will employees or their spouses or domestic partners.

Amy Dowell, who runs Cuomo 2010, emailed over this statement:

"We have voluntarily accepted the $10,000 limit to show solidarity with the Governor's proposal and we expect a new campaign finance law to be passed this session to provide certainty to the situation."