December 13, 2022 - Memorandum of Support for Preconsidered Intro. T2022-2607A, Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to requiring disclosure of the identity of contributors to entities making independent expenditures in support of or in opposition to any municipal ballot proposal or referendum
December 5, 2022 - Letter urging Governor Hohul to sign into law S2951A/A8858A (reducing the voter registration cutoff to the Constitutional minimum of 10 days) and S284C/A642C (remedies the “Wrong Church suppression” technicality by counting eligible votes on affidavit ballots cast in the correct Assembly District, but at the incorrect poll site)
August 16, 2022 - Citizens Union’s written testimony before the NYC Districting Commission during the second round of public hearings on the new Council district proposal
July 7, 2022 - Citizens Union’s written testimony before the NYC Districting Commission during the preliminary round of public hearings on the Council redistricting process
May 26, 2022 - Citizens Union’s written testimony before the NYC Districting Commission during the preliminary round of public hearings on the Council redistricting process
April 13, 2022 - Group Memorandum in Support of S8428/A9050, an act to amend the public officers law, in relation to the disclosure of law enforcement officer's disciplinary records.
April 2022 - Memorandum in support of a State Senate legislative package concerning reforming the Board of Elections, including bills S263 (Myrie), S823A (Kreuger), S4542A (Mayer), S5800B (Comrie), S6684A (Mannion), S7442 (Myrie), S8289 (Gaughran), S8292 (Mannion), S8311 (Mayer), S8337 (May)
March 18, 2022 - Memorandum of support for A642B (Myrie)/S284B (Carroll), an act to amend the election law, in relation to counting of affidavit ballots. This bill would require counting the votes of eligible voters who cast an affidavit ballot at an incorrect poll site but in the correct county, instead of disqualifying the entire ballot. Only votes for contests to which that individual was entitled to vote in would be counted.
February 28, 2022 - Testimony before the City Council Committee on Governmental Operations on New York City’s Pro-Voter Law (Agency-Based Voter Registration)
January 25, 2022 - Testimony for the 2022 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing regarding the Public Protection and General Government Article VII Legislation, and specifically the Independent Ethics Commission Reform Act of 2022
November 26, 2021 - a memorandum of opposition to Int 2429-2021, A local law to amend the New York City Charter, in relation to the budget of the Campaign Finance Board, which would reduce the budgetary independence of the Campaign Finance Board
November 22, 2021 - CU Memorandum of support for to bills before the City Council, Int. 2440-2021 (Adams), authorizing the Civilian Complaint Review Board to initiate complaints, and Int. 2297-2021 (Moya), in relation to qualification for service with the Police Department
October 19, 2021 - Memorandum of Opposition to Intro. No. 0034-2018, A Local Law to amend the New York City Charter, in relation to the use of government resources during an election campaign. which would reduce the blackout period for sending official mass-mailings prior to an election
September 20, 2021 - Written Testimony to the New York State Senate Committee on Elections regarding elections administration and voting rights in New York State
December 9, 2021 - Citizen Union testifies on measures that could improve the system of ethics oversight in New York. JCOPE is not the only agency tasked with keeping our government clean, related to relevant enforcement agencies like the Attorney General, the Legislative Ethics Commission, the Inspector General, as well as the Board of Elections, including its Chief Enforcement Officer.
August 15, 2021 - Citizens Union’s written testimony before the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission
August 15, 2021 - Citizen Union testifies on the need to overhaul the system of ethics oversight in New York, and specifically to replace the ethics watchdog JCOPE with an independent agency.
May 2019 - Throughout its history, Citizens Union has supported periodic comprehensive review of the New York City Charter absent a political agenda via the appointment of an independent Charter Revision Commission.
March 25, 2019 Summary: A.2513 (O’Donnell)/S.3695 (Bailey) would repeal Section 50-a of the Civil Rights Law. Click here for the…
March 18, 2019 - Good evening Chair Benjamin and distinguished members of the New York City Charter Revision Commission. I am Betsy Gotbaum, executive director of Citizens Union and the former New York City Public Advocate from 2002 to 2009. We are happy to see that you are holding a meeting on the Office of Public Advocate, and for giving Citizens Union and I the opportunity to share our recommendations with you.
March 7, 2019 - Good evening Chair Benjamin and distinguished members of the New York City Charter Revision Commission. My name is Rachel Bloom and I am the Director of Public Policy and Programs at Citizens Union. We thank you for holding this meeting on police accountability, and for giving Citizens Union the opportunity to publicly share our recommendations with you.
February 16, 2019 - An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to creation of the non-partisan legislative budget office