December 15, 2022 (New York, NY) – Today, the Public Campaign Finance Board released their budget recommendation for the state’s new public campaign finance system. The board’s commissioners approved a request totaling $114.5 million, including $100 million for future matching funds for participating campaigns and $14.5 million for program administration. After years of advocacy for a stronger, people-powered democracy, advocates are celebrating the implementation of this program and calling on the Governor to fully fund it.
Karen Wharton, Democracy Coalition Coordinator for Citizen Action of New York, says, “Democracy works best when the voices of everyday people are included and represented. The Public Campaign Finance Program increases the power of voters, and creates a clearer path for regular New Yorkers to run for office. Citizen Action joins the bipartisan board of directors of the PCFB, who are calling on Governor Hochul to fund the program.”
“It is profoundly undemocratic for public office to be the purview of only the rich, especially given the recent assaults on the right to vote. Imagine how different our state government will be when everyday New Yorkers fill the seats in the legislature and the governor’s mansion. It’s critical that Governor Kathy Hochul take the Public Campaign Finance Program seriously and fully fund it, so New York State politics can become more representative of and responsive to the needs of everyday New Yorkers.”
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