The legislation follows Local Law 1 of 2019, also authored by Kallos, that applied the Ballot Question 1 to the Public Advocates election. The results of the election demonstrated that the new system is work by flipping how campaigns are finance upside down. Big money no longer made up the three-quarters of campaign cash and was replaced by small dollars that now made up almost two-thirds of campaign cash. For the first time a candidate won citywide office with a pledge not to take real estate money.

The evidence shows that increasing to a full match of every small dollar will decrease big money and increase small dollars in elections. In addition, in a system where every small dollar is matched, big money, PAC money, and lobbyist money that is not matched is far less valuable.

“Over a million voters demanded fewer big dollars in New York City elections. We did just that with the Special Election for Public Advocate and flipped how campaigns are financed upside down electing the first city-wide candidate without big money from real estate developers replacing them with small dollars and the voices of everyday New Yorkers.” said Council Member Ben Kallos who has not solicited and actually refused big dollars from New York City real estate developers. “Thank you to Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for proving it could be done, Governmental Operations Chair Cabrera for being the co-prime sponsor and Speaker Corey Johnson for being a sponsor last term and all of them continuing their support through today.”

Corey Johnson was one of many candidates who promised to back this reform during a Speaker’s candidate forum hosted by Citizens Union.

Int. 732-B proposed the following:

• Full Public Match – increases match from 75% to 89.89% to match every dollar, indexed to the public dollars multiplier which was 6 and is now 8.
• Retroactive Contribution Limits – requires candidates who choose new system to return contributions over the new lower limits.
• Ballot Access – more candidates would make the ballot because they could use campaign funds to pay to defend legal challenges to petitions (funds would not cover challenges to other candidates).
• Public Funds Available for Publicly Funded Opponents – candidates otherwise only eligible for a partial public funds payment, would be eligible for a full public funds payment if an opponent qualified for public funds.
• Updates Dates for June Primaries – changes payment dates and conflicts of interest filing deadlines with a first payment December 15, the year before the election.
• Cleans Up Conflicts – moves language from the Charter placed there by the Charter Revision Commission to update the Administrative Code.
• Keeps Campaign Finance Constitutional – removes provisions held unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court.

On January 2^nd, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed Local Law 1 of 2019 authored by Council Member Kallos to apply new campaign finance laws overwhelmingly adopted by 80% of the voters some 1.1 million on November 6 to the upcoming special election for Public Advocate and municipal elections that follow through 2021.

Local Law 1 of 2019 extended the first ballot question on campaign finance reform from applying only in 2021 to providing that same option for special elections and the elections that follow (which already halve existing limits) in the interim:

• Lowered contribution limits from $2,550 citywide to $1,000, $1,975 for borough president to $750, and from $1,425 for city council to $500.
• Increased public matching of every small dollar of $175 and under with 6 public tax dollars to 8 public dollars and small dollars of $250 and under for citywide with 8 public dollars.
• Increased public grant from 55% to 75% of the spending limit.

Unlike, question 1, lowered contribution limits and increased matching are retroactively applied to candidates that select this option.

In addition to applying ballot question 1 to the special election Local Law 1 went further by lowering thresholds for debates and minimum funds raised to qualify for a public grant by half, just as other limits are halved. The threshold for Mayor is halved from $250,000 to $125,000 and for Public Advocate and Comptroller from $125,000 to $62,500. Only the first $250 of an individual New York City resident’s contribution is applied toward meeting dollar amount threshold. Participating candidates must still collect the same number of contributions of 1,000 for Mayor and 500 for Public Advocate and Comptroller.

On November 8, 2018, 1,151,775 votes were cast for the campaign finance reforms proposed by ballot question one according to the Board of Elections unofficial election night results. A staggering 80.25% of 1,435,210 votes, a 4 to 1 margin. The numbers show that nearly 75% of all voters who voted for Governor in New York City “flipped” their ballot to the fourth page (1,928,280). Almost as many voters supported campaign finance reform as voted for any candidate for Mayor in the 2017 General Election (1,166,313).

These results were preceded by advocacy by Council Member Ben Kallos in favor of all three ballot questions following their adoption by the Mayor’s Charter Revision Commission on Democracy. Kallos weighed in favor of Questions 1 and Question 3 in the NYCCFB’s Voter Guide. Actively participated in the Democracy Yes coalition that included recruiting many existing supporters of Int. 1130 of 2016. Authored opinion editorials one with Patriotic Millionaire Morris Pearl in City and State and another in Medium. Traveled around the borough of Manhattan securing endorsements of all three from the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, as well as Question 1 from the Lexington Democratic Club, Four Freedoms Democratic Club, Downtown Independent Democrats, Uptown Community Democrats, among many others. Kallos even debated other elected officials on all three questions at forums by New Downtown Democrats and Downtown Independent Democrats as well as Community Board 8 Manhattan. As acknowledged at the last debate, by Charter Revision Commission member John Segal, in discussing ballot question 1, noting advocacy by Kallos for this reform dating back to 2008 when both served on the NYC Bar’s Election Law Committee. Ballot Question 1 even received the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders and the New York Times.

Prior to the Charter Revision Commission, Council Member Ben Kallos spent his prior term seeking campaign finance reform when he authored Int. 1130, as originally written it increased the public matching grant from 55% to 85% of the spending limit and increase the amount of dollars matched from $175 to $250. Kallos secured 32 sponsors and used his Chair of the Committee on Government Operations to force a hearing on April 27, 2017, though it had a majority of Council Members as sponsors it did not pass. In 2018, Kallos reintroduced the legislation as Int. 732 with 30 sponsors. When Mayor de Blasio called a Charter Revision Commission on democracy Kallos testified in favor of campaign reforms on May 9, June 19, July 23, and August 9 including reducing contribution limits, increasing matching ratios, and increasing public funds payments all of which were in part or in whole adopted.

Prior to his candidacy for City Council, Ben Kallos served as Executive Director of good government group New Roosevelt Initiative which advocated for campaign finance reform in Albany in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

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