Contact: Wendy Katz (646) 230-0742/(917) 763-7553
 
NYS
ATTORNEY GENERAL CANDIDATE ANDREW CUOMO EARNS ENDORSEMENT OF THE CITIZENS
UNION
 
100-Year-Old
New York Government Reform Watchdog
Organization Praises Cuomo’s Record of Results and Vision for Reforming
Albany
 
New York, NY (August 24, 2006) – New York State Attorney General
candidate Andrew Cuomo today received the endorsement of Citizens Union, a non
partisan issue organization that has promoted good government and political
reform in the city and state of New York for more than a century.  Citizens Union has been a leading progressive force and watchdog
for the public interest and advocate of the common good.

 
In its endorsement, Citizens Union highlighted Cuomo’s record
successfully reforming and turning around the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development where he supervised 350 attorneys and managed more than 12,000
employees.  The Citizens Union
praised Cuomo’s vision and proposals for cleaning up Albany in several areas
including: fighting Medicaid fraud, campaign finance reform, redistricting
reform and aggressively using the Tweed Law which brings suit to recover any
governmental funds that have been “without right obtained” as a means for
fighting political corruption, policing unethical or fraudulent behavior, and
enacting political reform.
 
“Andrew Cuomo earned our preference on the strength of his record in
managing and reforming a large government agency like HUD, the way in which he
articulates his vision for the office of Attorney General, including his
specific ideas on how to pursue both Medicaid fraud and official malfeasance,
and the commitments he made on a host of reforms like campaign finance and
ethics,” said Dick Dadey, Executive Director of Citizens Union. “We felt that of
the four worthy Democratic candidates, he is best equipped to manage the state’s
Department of Law and bring innovation to the Attorney General’s office…in the
end, we felt that Andrew Cuomo would be better able to accomplish what needs to
be done in the critical issues confronting the state…We believe that Cuomo has
better experience and a stronger record of accomplishment than either of
them.”   [See text of the rest
of endorsement below.]
 
“Today is a great day for our campaign,” said Andrew Cuomo New York State
attorney general candidate.  “For
more than a century, Citizens Union has been a strong, progressive voice for
change and good government in New
York.  I am
proud to have this critical support for our campaign which is focused on
standing up for all New Yorkers and making government work for everyone.”

Support for
Cuomo
Citizens Union believes that Cuomo’s experience supervising 12,000
employees and 350 attorneys while serving as HUD Secretary under President Bill
Clinton while bringing reform to a troubled and corrupt agency prepares him for
the office of Attorney General.  With specific ideas on reforming state
government and practical proposals, Cuomo demonstrated that he has been thinking
about these issues in concrete ways that attend specifically to the role and
place of the Attorney General in the government structure.  His record of
accomplishment founding and leading the non profit Housing Enterprise for the
Less Privileged (HELP) and working at the Housing and Urban Development federal
agency makes us hopeful that he has the managerial skills and experience to
attain these goals.
Two key measures to combat the dysfunction in Albany, according to
Cuomo, are campaign finance and redistricting reform.  He argues that these
two measures will make elections more competitive and in turn bring about more
accountability to government and better qualified elected officials. 
Cuomo’s proposal to reform how campaigns are financed includes a limited public
financing system, much like New York City’s, a ban on soft money contributions,
a $10,000 limit on contributions to political parties, a $300 limit on
contributions from corporations doing business with state, a moratorium on
contributions from pharmaceutical companies doing business with the state, and
other measures.  He also supports a ban on elected officials accepting of
honoraria or fees for public speaking engagements and other events, as well as a
three year “cooling off” period before an elected or appointed official of the
executive or legislative branch can lobby the state government.
 
Cuomo would more aggressively enforce the Tweed Law which brings suit to
recover any governmental funds (state or local) that have been “without right
obtained” as the way in which to fight political corruption, police unethical or
fraudulent behavior, and enact political reform.  He believes that simply
enforcing the law will bring dramatic results. 
 
If elected, Cuomo would also push for a comprehensive healthcare reform
package including a crackdown on fraud and abuse in the pharmaceutical and
insurance industries and more active policing of Medicare to protect
seniors.  Cuomo believes that Medicaid fraud is wide and that encouraging
whistleblowers to come forward under the federal false claims act will bring
greater compliance.  Citizens Union was
also pleased to see Cuomo stress the need to partner with local district
attorneys in addressing systemic enforcement issues such as Medicaid fraud and
his interest in continuing Spitzer’s work with other state attorneys general in
protecting the environment at a time when the federal government has adopted a
more laissez-fair approach.
 
 
 
###