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 1130-A 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.
Proposed Int. No. 1130-A
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to increasing the cap on public funds available
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 3-705 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law 67 for the year 2007, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision three of section 3-706, in no case shall the principal committee of a participating candidate receive public funds pursuant to paragraph (a) above in excess of an amount equal to [fifty-five percent of] the expenditure limitation provided in subdivision one of section 3-706 for the office for which such candidate seeks nomination for election or election, less the amount of matchable contributions received.
§ 2. Subparagraph iii of paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 3-706 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law 67 for the year 2007, is amended to read as follows:
(iii) for elections occurring after January first, two thousand eight, the campaign finance board shall promulgate rules to provide that the principal committees of such participating candidates shall receive payment for qualified campaign expenditures that will provide the highest allowable matchable contribution to be matched by an amount up to one thousand two hundred fifty dollars in public funds per contributor (or up to six hundred twenty five dollars in public funds per contributor in the case of special election); provided, however, that (A) participating candidates in a run-off election shall receive public funds for such election pursuant to subdivision five of section 3-705 and shall not receive any additional public funds pursuant to this section, and (B) in no case shall a principal committee receive in public funds an amount exceeding [two-thirds of] the expenditure limitation provided for such office in subdivision one of this section, less the amount of matchable contributions received.
§ 3. This local law takes effect on January 1, 2018, provided, however, that the campaign finance board shall take any actions necessary prior to such effective date for the implementation of this local law including, but not limited to, the adoption of any necessary rules.
SMD/bjr
LS #6934
1/30/17
Int. No. 1130
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the amount of campaign contributions that may be matched with public funds and increasing the cap on public funds available
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 3-703 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law 67 for the year 2007, is amended to read as follows:
2. (a) The threshold for eligibility for public funding for participating candidates in a primary or general election, or special election to fill a vacancy, shall be in the case of:
(i) mayor, not less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars in matchable contributions comprised of sums up to [one hundred seventy-five] two hundred fifty dollars per contributor including at least one thousand matchable contributions of ten dollars or more;
(ii) public advocate and comptroller, not less than one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars in matchable contributions comprised of sums of up to [one hundred seventy-five] two hundred fifty dollars per contributor including at least five hundred matchable contributions of ten dollars or more;
(iii) borough president, an amount equal to the number of persons living in such borough as determined by the last census multiplied by two cents in matchable contributions comprised of sums of up to [one hundred seventy-five] two hundred fifty dollars per contributor including at least one hundred matchable contributions of ten dollars or more from residents of the borough, or ten thousand dollars comprised of sums of up to [one hundred seventy-five] two hundred fifty dollars per contributor, whichever is greater.
(iv) member of the city council, not less than five thousand dollars in matchable contributions comprised of sums of up to [one hundred seventy-five] two hundred fifty dollars per contributor including at least seventy-five matchable contributions of ten dollars or more from residents of the district in which the seat is to be filled.
§ 2. Subdivision 2 of section 3-705 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law 67 for the year 2007, is amended to read as follows:
2. (a) If the threshold for eligibility is met, the participating candidate's principal committee shall receive payment for qualified campaign expenditures of six dollars for each one dollar of matchable contributions, up to [one thousand fifty dollars] one thousand five hundred in public funds per contributor (or up to five hundred twenty-two dollars in public funds per contributor in the case of a special election), obtained and reported to the campaign finance board in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision three of section 3-706, in no case shall the principal committee of a participating candidate receive public funds pursuant to paragraph (a) above in excess of an amount equal to [fifty-five] eighty-five percent of the expenditure limitation provided in subdivision one of section 3-706 for the office for which such candidate seeks nomination for election or election.
§ 3. This local law takes effect 120 days after it becomes law, provided, however, that the campaign finance board shall take any actions necessary prior to such effective date for the implementation of this local law including, but not limited to, the adoption of any necessary rules.
SMD
LS #6934
3/17/16