New York Uprising, a non-partisan independent coalition advocating good government reform, was launched in March by former New York City Mayor Ed Koch. The coalition calls for non-partisan independent redistricting, "responsible budgeting" and ethics reform and identifies the criteria such reforms must meet.
On the group's website, New York Uprising labels elected officials and candidates who sign three pledges to enact the Uprising's agenda heroes. Those who do not sign are labeled enemies.
As of August 20, the organization had labeled as enemies 97 state legislators, or 46 percent. In the Senate -- where the entire Republican conference signed all three pledges – 12 legislators, or 20 percent, have been labeled enemies. In the Assembly, 85, or 57 percent, have been labeled enemies.
In addition, 294 candidates for state office have signed the pledges, including all candidates for governor and attorney general. Only eight candidates have not, says Mark Botnick, New York Uprising's co-executive director. The gubernatorial candidates also signed a pledge saying they would veto any redistricting legislation that doesn't create an independent redistricting commission.
Koch says the preponderance of support for the pledges validates New York Uprising's agenda. "All these other people are out of step and are going to be defeated because they are enemies of reform," he says.
Some of the “enemies” take issue with the label.
Assemblymembers Deborah Glick and Richard Gottfried of Manhattan, along with Brooklyn's James Brennan, say that they agree with various parts of the pledge and have even supported legislation with some of the same objectives.
For instance, Brennan agrees with the part of the responsible budgeting pledge that calls for the state to adopt generally accepted accounting principles. Glick voted for the vetoed ethics reform bill, Assembly bill 9544, which would also have tackled campaign finance reform. Gottfried backed Assembly bill 5279-B, a measure that would create an independent redistricting commission modeled after Iowa's widely touted system. But all three legislators say they have serious objections to parts of the pledges.
Gottfried sent New York Uprising a three-page defense of his refusal to sign the pledge. "I have, over the years, been a strong supporter of campaign finance reform and ethics reform," he wrote.
Gottfried and Brennan say they decided not to sign the responsible budgeting pledge, in part, because they disagree with the premise that state spending is excessive. Brennan says in a letter to Koch that the state's budget deficit stems mostly from the recession – not from new spending.
Gottfried says he also opposes the part of the campaign finance reform guidelines that would prohibit campaign contributions from a person advocating the passage, repeal or modification of a bill, rule or resolution. Brennan agrees, saying he thought the prohibition would violate the First Amendment.
Gottfried says the proposed prohibition is "ridiculous" because it disadvantages grass roots advocacy groups, while privileging lobbyists who have enough money to get their message across without saying a word. Under this pledge, "NARAL or NRA or Empire State Pride Agenda would be prohibited from making a campaign contribution," Gottfried says.
