Fair Elections for NY Praises Full Funding for Public Financing in FY 2025 Budget

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 19, 2024
CONTACT: Karen Wharton, [email protected]

STATEMENT FROM FAIR ELECTIONS FOR NEW YORK COALITION ON FY 2025 BUDGET

NEW YORK—Today, Governor Hochul and the New York State Senate and Assembly finalized a budget for FY 2025 that includes $114.5 million for the New York State Public Campaign Finance Program. The budget allocation includes $14.5 million for administrative costs and $100 million for public matching funds.

In response, the Fair Elections for New York coalition issued the following statement:

New York has taken a momentous step today towards a fairer democracy. With full funding for the Public Campaign Finance Program secured in the budget, New York is showing the rest of the country what’s possible in countering the outsized role of money in our political system. The funding our state’s leaders delivered in this budget will support the largest and most robust public campaign financing program in the country for state and legislative offices. It will also establish a foundation for the continued, prudent administration of this program in the coming years.

Public campaign financing reduces the disproportionate influence of wealthy donors and special interest groups in political campaigns. It frees candidates from having to rely on large contributions from a select few, allowing them to prioritize the concerns and interests of everyday constituents — whose contributions are then matched and multiplied by state funds. It promises to bring more New Yorkers’ voices into the political process as candidates and donors.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie have been champions of this program from the very beginning, and we thank them for their dedication to funding and implementing a robust, small-donor matching funds program. Likewise, Governor Hochul has been a fierce defender of this program and its importance to state elections.

This budget marks a crucial milestone for the program, which was originally passed in 2020. Today, more than 300 candidates are registered with the Public Campaign Finance Board for the 2024 election, including incumbents and challengers, Democrats and Republicans from every corner of the state.