Update: Legislature Undermining NYS Public Campaign Finance Law

June 5, 2023

Reporters have confirmed that the Senate and Assembly are actively discussing major changes to the state public campaign finance law. There is nothing in writing, no bill language, and we believe it’s most likely that the Legislature will bundle these changes into the kitchen-sink “Big Ugly” bill that is passed in the last moments of session without any public review via a Governor’s message of necessity. 

Here is our understanding of the destructive changes legislators are proposing to New York’s long-awaited public campaign finance law:

  1. Remove the $250 cap on matchable donations, so that the first $250 of a donation of any size up to the maximum is matched with public funds. For example, a maximum $18,000 donation to the Governor would receive an additional $1500 in contributions from the state. Currently, only cumulative donations of $250 or less can be matched. If someone donates $251, their donation is no longer matched. (Note that the current cap was highly debated in 2019 and agreed to as a political compromise in which public match advocates grudgingly accepted the Legislature’s proposal for high contribution limits.)
  2. Raise the number of in-district donors and the total donation amount needed to qualify for matching funds. For example, for an Assembly primary candidate to qualify, they must raise $6,000 from 75 in-district residents. The proposal is to raise both of these thresholds. (This would make it much harder for primary opponents to qualify for the public match.)
  3. Eliminate the requirement that candidates return all public match funds after the election, which is required in the NYC system. (This would allow political committees to build war chests using tax dollars and significantly increase the risk public funds would be misused.)
  4. Increase from 30 to 90 days the time candidates have to cure mistakes in their disclosure forms. The NYC Campaign Finance Board allows 30 days.

There are more changes under discussion that we have not been able to verify.