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Lawmakers keep program to combat big money in NY politics in budget plans, for now
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Mar 23, 2023
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By
Brigid Bergin
Published Mar 23, 2023
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New Yorkers are lobbying lawmakers to keep a campaign finance program that would increase the reach of small donors in the final budget deal — though its fate is far from certain.
Funding to the tune of $39.5 million for the Public Campaign Finance Board made it into the state Senate and Assembly’s one-house budgets last week, matching the proposal from Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this year. Still, few lawmakers are openly championing the program – which would match small-dollar donations by upwards of $6-to-$1 – while others have privately called for delaying its implementation. Advocates fear if it ends up getting left out this year, that may be the opening salvo to killing it altogether.
“What we have now is a system where 200 people have a greater voice in our elections than 200,000 New Yorkers,” said Karen Wharton, democracy coalition coordinator for Citizen Action New York, a good government group. She cited campaign finance analysis of last year’s election from The Brennan Center, a proponent of the small-donor program, which found that the 200 wealthiest donors gave $16 million to candidates in 2022. That’s more than the 206,000 small donors who gave up to $250 combined.
“This program gives those 200,000 New Yorkers who are not well-heeled an opportunity to have their money amplified so that there can be some kind of balance here,” Wharton added. The program would apply to donations of $5-$250 per election cycle, with a match of $6-to-$1 for statewide races and then a scale of up to $12-to-$1 for state legislative candidates. A contribution of $10, for instance, can net a statewide candidate $60 in matching funds, bringing the total donation to $70.
Wharton said the Fair Elections for New York coalition, which comprises some 200 groups, has dispatched members to make calls, send emails and visit lawmakers in person to lobby to keep the public matching program in the final budget deal.
But if recent comments from state legislative leaders are any indication, the coalition still has its work cut out in order to make the public campaign finance program a budget priority.
“I have no expectation of anything falling off the table,” state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told the "Capitol Pressroom" podcast Monday when asked whether upcoming budget negotiations could lead to a delay in the program’s implementation. “But we’ll see.”
Lawmakers adopted the PCFB in 2020. It officially launched in November of last year and has already spent nearly $4 million standing up the new agency, building out the infrastructure and hiring 36 employees, according to budget data from the governor’s office.
“The program is already live,” said Joanna Zdanys, senior counsel at the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, noting that candidates began opting into the program last fall. She said the board is ready to administer the full program producing a candidate handbook, conducting public information sessions for campaigns and building out the technology that will be used when candidates begin receiving matching donations next year.
“Funding in the coming budget is the critical next step to growing the program,” Zdanys said.
The board requested $114.5 million in the upcoming budget, split between $14.5 million for administration and $100 million for the matching program.
The $39.5 million that lawmakers currently included in their proposals reflects the full funding for administration and $25 million in matching funds. Board members have previously said that the lower amount is acceptable since it represents a significant commitment that should encourage candidates to sign up for the program, but noted that matching funds are not scheduled to be distributed until next year.
So far, 22 candidates have registered for the program, including one statewide candidate: Thomas DiNapoli, the current state comptroller who is up for re-election in 2026.
“Advocates and elected officials worked for years to create the Public Campaign Finance Program and reduce the influence of big money from New York's elections,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “I opted into the system for statewide candidates because I believe it levels the playing field and promotes fairer, more democratic elections. I look forward to its full implementation.”
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campaign finance
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Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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