WNYC Newsroom —

Governor Spitzer had to compromise, but he's gotten Albany legislators to agree to tighten the state's campaign finance laws. Government reform groups are applauding the changes. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

The package of reforms is supposed to cap the amount of so-called "soft money" received by state parties to $300,000 annually. Right now the amount is unlimited. Cracking down on fake Limited Liability Companies is also part of the deal. According to government watchdogs LLC's are growing fast and often exploit a loophole that allows them to give beyond the $5,000 limit placed on other companies.

Contribution limits to candidates running for statewide office has also been sharply reduced to $25,000 - less than half what it is now. None of these reforms will take affect until 2009 which means senate and assembly candidates can run unconstrained in 2008. For WNYC, I'm Cindy Rodriguez.