Match Every New York City Resident’s Small Dollars
New York City’s campaign finance system matches the first $175 of contributions from residents by 6 to 1 and gives participating candidates a partial public matching grant of up to 55% of the spending limit in competitive races. This leaves more than 1/3 of the funds outstanding between the public matching grant and the spending limit, which must be reached to be competitive. The “big dollar gap” for Mayor is $2.5 million.
Introduction 732 by Council Members Kallos, Lander, and Cabrera, increases the public matching grant from an arbitrary partial match of 55% to a full match. Every small dollar raised from city residents would be matched 6 to 1. Candidates could still raise contributions of $4,950 for Mayor, but would be incentivized to seek small donations from many more residents by matching every small dollar.
- Reduce Big Money by filling the “big dollar gap” with small dollars matched with a full public matching grant.
- Increase the Number of Small Donors by a minimum of 50% for candidates seeking a full public matching grant.
I support matching every small dollar to get big money out of city politics.