Promises effort to try again
Sen. Terry Gipson last week strongly criticized a majority of the New York State Senate for voting against campaign reform legislation, something the first-term senator has championed since joining the state Legislature.
A Democrat elected last November to represent Philipstown and other areas of the mid-Hudson Valley, Gipson said, “I am very disappointed that the majority coalition has voted down much-needed campaign finance reform legislation when it came time to do the right thing. Campaign finance reform and earning the public trust is not a partisan issue — it is a moral one.” The state Senate adjourned its 2013 session at the end of last week, ruining chances for further action this year.
Friday, June 21, Gipson explained that the Senate Majority Coalition, a bipartisan power bloc, had refused to seriously consider any campaign reform bill. These included one he sponsored to, as he put it, “stop politicians from using their campaign funds as a personal ATM and to pay for defense attorneys.”
Gipson sponsored bills to tighten regulations regarding the use of campaign money and prohibit the use of an official position for political fundraising. Among other measures, he also backed legislation to close loopholes in campaign finance laws that, according to the senator, unfairly benefit large corporations.
After the adjournment, he promised that “as an Albany outsider, I will continue to fight for common sense reform in Albany and will work with anyone, regardless of their party, to get it done.”
