Joshua Solomon, Times Union, Albany, N.Y. (TNS)
ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed legislation that would have widened the net of eligible campaign contributions for matching public funds under a new system that is being rolled out in the 2024 elections.
The public financing of campaigns is intended to help less wealthy New Yorkers engage in the Democratic process by having their political contributions given as much weight as those from donors with more disposable income.
“Signing this bill would effectively reduce the impact of small donors on elections,” Hochul wrote in a veto memo on Wednesday. The legislation is in “direct contravention of the purpose” of the public campaign finance program, she added.
The legislation would also “add significant costs to the state” that were not budgeted. Hochul did not propose delaying the implementation of the program in her veto message.
The bill would have allowed for the first $250 of any contribution to a campaign in an election cycle to be matched by state funding. Currently, the program only allows matching donations for contributors who gave no more than $250 in a cycle. The amended version would have allowed larger contributions from deep-pocketed donors to receive a taxpayer-funded boost.
In statewide competitive races, candidates in a cycle, primary or general election campaign can be eligible for up to $3.5 million in matching funds. In a statewide race, a candidate receiving about 2,300 contributions of $250 can hit the maximum eligibility.
For competitive legislative races a candidate for state Senate can be eligible for up to $375,000 in matching funds and candidates for Assembly can be eligible for up to $175,000. To reach the maximum eligibility, a candidate for state Senate would need 163 contributions of $250 and a candidate for Assembly would need 76 contributions of $250.
The bill was passed narrowly by Democratic supermajorities of the state Senate and Assembly in the final days of this year’s legislative session.
Members of the Working Families Party and Democratic Socialists generally were hesitant of supporting legislation that could be viewed as weakening any power the existing matching funds program could give to grassroots campaigns seeking to challenge incumbents in primaries.
The measure was vehemently opposed by good government groups that advocated for the 2019 law, which created the state’s matching funds program. The public campaign finance advocates argued the bill would undermine the program.
The opposition included Joanna Zdanys, senior counsel in the Elections and Government Program of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU.
Zdanys described the legislation as “damaging” and said it would “further empower megadonors.” Michael Waldman, husband of Elizabeth Fine, counsel to the governor, is the president of the Brennan Center.
On Wednesday, Zdanys said Hochul’s veto “ensures that New York can retain its rightful place as a national leader in countering the pernicious role of wealth in politics and that everyday New Yorkers can have a fairer say in our state’s political system.”
The legislation was carried by the respective chairs of the election committees, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, both Brooklyn Democrats. In the Assembly, the bill was one of the most hotly debated measures in conference this year, according to a source familiar with those discussions. Typically, only legislation supported by Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie makes it to the floor for a vote.
The bill passed 80 to 66 in the Assembly and 34 to 29 in the Senate, although the unofficial floor vote was 32 to 31.
In an interview on Tuesday, Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic Party chairman, declined to take a stance on the legislation that could alter the way elections are run in New York. He said he had heard from some members of their concern about it.
The Times Union reported on Tuesday that the legislation was expected to be vetoed by Hochul, according to a source familiar with the matter.
At least 168 candidates have filed applications to take part in the public campaign finance program. Hochul, who is finishing the first year of a four-year term, is not among them. State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is the lone statewide candidate to enroll in it.
Many Republicans, despite their opposition to the program, also have enrolled in it. State Sen. Pete Harckham, Democrat of Westchester County, has raised the most funds qualified to be matched, over $50,000. Assemblyman Alex Bores, D-Manhattan, has raised the most in the Assembly, over $10,000 of eligible funds, according to data with the state Board of Elections.
“The governor’s decision means the state’s public campaign finance program will continue to amplify the voices of everyday New Yorkers, and we encourage all campaigns to make use of its benefits,” Citizens Union Executive Director Betsy Gotbaum said in a statement Wednesday.
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