Campaign Finance Board Executive Director Amy Loprest testified before the City Council Committee on Governmental Operations regarding the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision earlier today. The Council is considering a resolution that calls for a Constitutional amendment to reverse the decision and establish that corporations are not entitled to the same rights as natural persons.
"Recognizing a First Amendment right where none had previously been found, Citizens United opened the floodgates to allow massive amounts of unlimited—and too often, undisclosed—independent spending by corporations, unions, and other groups," Loprest said.
Citizens United allowed for unlimited independent spending by corporations, unions, and other groups. Oftentimes, this spending is undisclosed. Loprest said, "In New York City, voters approved a City Charter amendment in November 2010 that requires disclosure of independent expenditures in city elections. We are nearing the end of the rulemaking process to implement the new requirement… We are confident the rules will achieve the goal intended by the Charter: to ensure corporations and other actors who spend money to influence city elections conduct their activities in the open, so New Yorkers can see where the money goes before they decide how to vote."
The full testimony is available here (pdf)