Editor’s note: Jeff Klein, a Democrat from the Bronx, is co-leader of the State Senate with Republican Dean Skelos. On May 31, we published an op-ed from City Councilman Oliver Koppell urging State Senator Jeff Klein to force a vote on campaign finance reform legislation that passed overwhelmingly in the Democrat-led Assembly, but is opposed by Republicans in the Senate. This is Klein’s rebuttal.

Last week on this website (5/31), outgoing Councilman Oliver Koppell urged me to be a “genuine democrat” and to pass public financing of state elections. Apparently, Mr. Koppell has not been keeping up with the news. If he had, he surely would have learned that less than two months ago, as Leader of the New York State Senate’s Independent Democratic Conference, I introduced the most sweeping campaign finance reform plan in the state of New York. The New York Times called my plan “bolder” than Speaker Silver’s, while good government groups across New York uniformly described my legislation as the most comprehensive plan to reform our state’s campaign finance system.

Since introducing my reform plan, I have held public hearings across New York in order to build support among advocates, voters, and my senate colleagues. Despite my best efforts, very few members of the Senate’s Democratic Conference have signed on to my bill. That’s because both Democrats and Republicans are afraid of what real reforms—such as lowering contribution limits and eliminating party campaign slush funds—may mean to their reelection chances.

My plan would not only implement public financing for state campaigns, it would correct the loopholes in the law that Mr. Koppell did nothing significant to change during his twenty-three years in the Assembly. In fact, Mr. Koppell co-sponsored legislation creating some of the system’s biggest loopholes. That’s right: in 1974 then-Assemblyman Koppell shepherded legislation through the Assembly that created party housekeeping accounts—large party slush funds that are uninhibited by contribution limits or by any meaningful disclosure requirements. Almost forty years after his vote in favor of loopholes, Mr. Koppell is not only failing to own up to the consequences of that vote, but he is attempting to hold others responsible for fixing it. That’s really something. In fact, it is the type of ham-handed posturing that distracts from the issue and fosters skepticism in the minds of voters.

We should keep in mind that Mr. Koppell has a history of only supporting reforms that benefit himself. In 2009, while myself and others backed Democrat Bill Thompson for Mayor, Councilman Koppell endorsed Mayor Bloomberg and authored legislation extending term limits so that he and Mr. Bloomberg could run for a third term. Mr. Koppell introduced this legislation, even though a popular vote put those term limits into place years earlier. But it’s no wonder Mr. Koppell wanted to get rid of term limits: had they remained in place, he would have been out of a job four years ago.

In his op-ed last week, Mr. Koppell asked me to “force a vote” on public campaign financing, even if the votes are not there to pass a serious bill. That’s an interesting argument for Mr. Koppell to make, since he has been famously reluctant to do so in the city council, even on matters of civil rights. Earlier this year, Mr. Koppell announced with great fanfare that he would force a vote on legislation requiring all taxicabs to become wheelchair accessible. Forcing a vote on the legislation would have required Mr. Koppell to stand-up to City Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Christine Quinn, who opposed the measure. Nevertheless, Mr. Koppell claimed that he would not back down.

The problem? When the going got tough—and Speaker Quinn stepped up the pressure—Mr. Koppell folded and introduced a watered-down version instead. As the Daily News editorial board put it last month, Mr. Koppell “buckled under pressure” and “wasted everyone’s time” by bailing on his promise to force a vote. As for his new, watered-down legislation, advocacy groups said that it “put a price tag on civil rights, which no one should accept.”

The fact of the matter is, building support for bold reforms is never easy. But in order to get them done, you need to have the courage to stand by your convictions. You also need to be willing to negotiate with your colleagues and find common ground wherever possible. These are lessons that I have learned well while serving in a closely divided senate over the past nine years. I’ve applied these lessons over the past year to pass important progressive priorities, such as tougher gun control laws, increased funding for our schools, and a higher minimum wage for working families. I will do the same with campaign finance reform and will correct some of the mistakes made by others like Mr. Koppell in 1974.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.