New York City Council Speaker’s Influence Withers as Slush Fund Dries

New York Sun reports:

The end of the long-standing practice of stashing away money in the city budget by hiding it behind fictitious organizations is leaving Speaker Christine Quinn and her successors without a discreet pot of money to reward political allies and favored organizations.

“The fewer the amount of goodies that can be distributed, the less the power,” a professor of political science at Baruch College, Douglas Muzzio, said. “Legislative leadership involves carrots and sticks. These are some big juicy carrots that will no longer be available.”

The council’s practice of making it appear that millions of dollars have been awarded to phantom groups and then allocating the money to legitimate organizations later in the year is being investigated by the U.S. attorney’s office and the city’s Department of Investigation.

Can you name that party?