Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner speaks before state committee about state corruption

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner called on New York state legislators to enact different types of government reform to fight corruption in a testimony to the New York State Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee on Monday.

Miner said she wants to see the LLC loophole closed, “comprehensive” contracting oversight and a modernization of the elections system in the state, according to a transcription of her testimony provided by her press office.

The LLC loophole allows companies to give large campaign contributions in state elections. Limited liability companies can give up to $150,000 annually in New York elections, and individuals can create LLC entities to give money. The loophole is the result of a 1996 state Board of Elections decision.

The mayor said that in 2016, she also spoke before the committee about corruption and “raised issues about how the state allocates its economic development resources.”

“Sadly, since I last appeared before you, the headlines have been dominated by an intersection of these two issues: corruption in our state’s economic development programs,” she said to the committee.

She told the committee she supports different contracting reforms, including the creation of a “Database of Deals” that would allow the public to see the total value of all subsidies awarded to different businesses. She also said she supports making the voting registration process easier in the state, per the release.

Miner also told the committee the state’s decisions directly impact the city of Syracuse and corruption has a “corrosive influence on our democracy.”

“Corruption of our state’s economic development programs is the symptom of a more systemic problem, a government that has become increasingly insulated from the will of the people,” she said, according to the transcription.