Paterson Says No to Public Campaign Financing For Now ALBANY, NEW YORK (WXXI) - Governor David Paterson threw cold water on reform advocate's efforts to advance public campaign finance reform, saying with the worsening fiscal situation, it's not the time to provide public money.

Advocates for the public financing of campaigns were in Albany to promote a bill that would provide public dollars to candidates running for office. The bill had been previously sponsored in the legislature by Governor David Paterson, when he was a Senator. But Governor Paterson, speaking on WXXI's 1370 Connection Monday as part of his statewide radio tour, says he now thinks the time is not right for public financing of campaigns, given the state's financial problems. Paterson says he's already trying to persuade the legislature to cut the budget.

" I'm not going to add another $50 to $60 million dollars on to it by saying, 'by the way, all of you have got to tighten your belts but we have to have public financing because I don't want to tighten my belt'," Paterson said.

Paterson says as soon as the economy stabilizes, he'll once again be an advocate for the public financing of campaigns.


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