Ex-judge in North Carolina says ads violate law on interfering with gubernatorial and legislative races; Andrew Cuomo spokesman calls complaints ‘frivolous’
(NY Times) – New York’s advertising campaigns promoting the state’s economic-development opportunities have faced criticism for their high costs and meager returns in job creation. Now they have encountered another challenge.
A former North Carolina Supreme Court judge has filed complaints with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and a New York state ethics panel alleging that taxpayer-funded ads Gov.Andrew Cuomo’s administration has run in North Carolina violated the Hatch Act by interfering with the gubernatorial and legislative races in that state.
The commercials, which reference the state’s so-called transgender bathroom law, among policies by other states, “mention North Carolina and its leadership in a transparent attempt to criticize, interfere and affect the impending North Carolina elections,” according to the federal complaint filed by the retired judge, Robert F. Orr.
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The Republican governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, is up for re-election this year, as is the state’s legislature. The Hatch Act prohibits federal, state and local employees from using their official authority to interfere with or influence the outcome of an election or nomination for office.
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, John P.L. Kelly, described the complaints as “frivolous” but didn’t address the allegation concerning any attempt to sway North Carolina’s elections.
“It would be funny if the issues we were actually talking about did not involve human rights and basic equality,” Mr. Kelly said. “New York welcomes everyone—everyone—who seeks to embrace freedom while pursuing their dreams.”
Mr. Orr, who said in an interview that he isn’t affiliated with the North Carolina governor’s administration or campaign but has done some legal work for the state, has filed a similar complaint with New York’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
The ads, which the complaints say began running in North Carolina in late June, promote New York’s business climate as “where the true leaders are” and “where we understand the value of diversity.” The ads are no longer airing, according to Mr. Cuomo’s office.
When the narrator says “as some in America seem to be forgetting exactly what freedom means,” the screen flashes with headlines critical of other states’ policies on issues related to transgender people, refugees and gays.
One of the headlines reads: “North Carolina Bans Local Anti-Discrimination Policies,” a reference to a law signed in March that bars transgender people from using bathrooms and other facilities that don’t correspond to the gender on their birth certificates.
Subsequent to that law, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, issued an executive order that prohibits nonessential state-funded travel to North Carolina, saying the bathroom policy is discriminatory.
The federal complaint criticizes the ads as going “beyond appropriate economic-development recruitment,” saying: “By using public funds to promote New York as supporting certain policies and implicitly criticizing contrary political decisions made in North Carolina, an ethical imitation has been breached.”
The complaint specifically identifies Mr. Cuomo as having violated the Hatch Act, along with several employees of Empire State Development, New York’s economic-development agency.
Mr. Cuomo has rarely weighed in on races outside New York, but he has long sought to position himself at the forefront of national issues, including gun control, same-sex marriage and raising the minimum wage.
And he has seized on the opportunity to make his mark in response to what he has described as discriminatory policies in other states. The ads cited in the complaints ran on television in Texas, Mississippi and North Carolina, according to Mr. Cuomo’s office, and online in 26 states that it said have passed or are considering anti-LGBT legislation.
A spokesman for Mr. McCrory’s campaign,Ricky Diaz, said that “despite Gov. Cuomo’s efforts to trash North Carolina with boycotts and false ads, his residents continue to move here for lower taxes and job opportunities because New York is the second worst state for business while North Carolina is one of the best.”
In response, Mr. Cuomo’s spokesman, Mr. Kelly, said that “the delusion of North Carolina’s leadership is boundless.” He added: “We reject their sanctimonious discrimination.”
Mr. Cuomo has periodically run taxpayer-funded ads promoting New York since he took office in 2011. In some cases, the ads have been faulted as promoting him more than the program, partly because some ran in New York around the time of his re-election campaign. The administration has argued they are an effective recruiting tool and pointed out that the governor’s name and image did not appear in them.
Ads that began running during Mr. Cuomo’s first term in conjunction with a tax-break program for new businesses moving to New York, Start-Up NY, had a price tag of some $50 million. A state-issued report this year showed 408 jobs were created in two years of the program.
Though the commercials specifically identified the Start-Up NY program, Mr. Cuomo has defended them as promoting New York in general.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-state-ads-in-north-carolina-face-complaints-1469408454
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