LEGAL NEWSLINE

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) -New York's governor and attorney general are leading a push calling for the public financing of candidates in the state.

The Fair Elections New York initiative includes labor, business, consumer, environmental and campaign finance reform groups. It is backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state AG Eric Schneiderman. Cuomo was AG before Schneiderman.

The groups are launching an advertising and grassroots push to put pressure on state lawmakers to enact comprehensive campaign finance reform this session.

"The drumbeat to pass comprehensive campaign reform in New York this year is getting louder and louder," David Donnelly, executive director of Public Campaign Action Fund, said in a statement. "Over the next few weeks, lawmakers across the state will hear from their constituents that they demand a political system that works for everyone and not just big campaign donors."

"'Listen to Us' will inform ordinary New Yorkers about how publicly-financed elections will finally make the voices of voters heard in Albany," Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action of New York, said in a statement.

Citizen Action of New York and Public Campaign Action Fund are two of the groups helping to pay for the ad campaign that will include television, direct mail and online efforts at a cost of $815,000.