Cuomo: Maps Show ‘Undue Political Influence’ (VIDEO ADDED)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, down in New York City for the Democratic Governors Association, said the proposed maps for state and legislative lines were clearly down through a political process and will be vetoed.
In his first public comments since the maps were released yesterday, the governor reiterated what his spokesman Josh Vlasto said on Thursday, calling the lines “unacceptable.”
“You can see that these maps were politically drawn and that there was a political process,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo said his goal was to push for what referred to as a “better product” this year and a better process in the coming years — suggesting that he would perhaps push for a Constitutional amendment that would be in place for the 2020 Census and the 2022 elections.
“This is an argument and lamentation every 10 years,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo was in New York City addressed a group of business leaders at the DGA event that included a $50,000 price tag to get into the event sit at Cuomo’s table. It didn’t appear on his public schedule and was considered a private, closed-door event.
Edit: A commenter points out the tickets to the event itself cost $325.
The cost of a ticket certainly raised eyebrows, but Cuomo said it was nothing out of the ordinary.
“I say that I and other governors and elected officials are in rooms with people who do business with government all day long,” he said. “We’re aware of that and that’s why we have ethics laws and codes of conduct, etcetera.”
And he reiterated his call for campaign finance reform in New York (which ostensibly wouldn’t effect events like the DGA’s fundraiser today).
“I have my own ideas what I think the law should be in this state, and that’s why we need finance reform in this state. But the federal finance laws are someone else’s problem.”
| Print article | This entry was posted by Nick Reisman on January 27, 2012 at 12:37 pm, and is filed under Andrew Cuomo. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |
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