Public Finance Commission Results + Evictions Drop After New Rent Laws

Local News

• The New York State Public Campaign Financing Commission held its final meeting, where they voted to create a new statewide system of public funding for state campaigns and to increase the vote threshold required for parties to secure a position on the ballot. The Commission voted to create an opt-in system where candidates will receive matching public funds for donations up to $250 (per donor).  Only contributions from donors within a candidate’s district will be matchable (for statewide candidates that is the whole state).
• The Commission also opted to make it more difficult for third parties to get on the ballot, increasing the threshold from 50,000 votes to 130,000 votes (or 2% of turnout). The Conservative Party will likely meet this threshold, but it will be a challenge for the Working Families Party and the Green Party, an outcome that the WFP had feared and quickly condemned. The Commission’s plan will become law, unless the state legislature votes to overturn it by mid-December.
• A Wall Street Journal study determined that evictions in NYC have plummeted since the State passed a package of rent protections in June.
• In response to significant losses to progressive and socialist activists over the past year, New York’s real estate industry is attempting to revitalize its political influence by focusing on grassroots organizing and targeting the wave of open City Council seats in 2021.
• A new report claims that employees at Amazon’s warehouse on Staten Island suffer from injuries at a rate that far outpaces the national average, fueling calls for increased worker protections heading into the punishing holiday season.
• Governor Cuomo and National Grid announced an agreement that would restore gas service to customers and applicants the utility had previously rejected. The agreement comes after National Grad imposed a moratorium on activating gas hookups on Long Island; Cuomo then threatened to pull the company’s operating license if service did not turn on the gas.
• The New York City Council voted to ban flavored e-cigarettes, making New York the first major city to ban all flavored vaping products.
• The Council also approved a plan to rein in parking placard abuse, raising the fine for illegal placard use from $250 to $500.
• The editor of Bklyner acknowledged that there are not enough reporters and independent news outlets in Brooklyn to properly cover local politics, which will become particularly clear during the busy 2021 campaign season for city council seats.