For Immediate Release:
January 21, 2025
Today New York State Governor Kathy Hochul released her executive budget for fiscal year 2026, including $114.5 million for the state’s small donor public campaign financing program. The voluntary program matches small contributions by local residents with public funds. The program had its first run in the 2024 legislative elections.
Joanna Zdanys, deputy director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, had the following comment:
"Fifteen years ago today, the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling eliminated crucial limits on political spending, paving the way for a few of the nation’s wealthiest to dominate our elections. Fully funding New York’s public campaign financing program — the best legislative response in the country to counter the aftermath of Citizens United — shows that the state is moving toward a democracy that works for all New Yorkers and represents the interests of the people it serves.
“In its first run this past election, the state’s public financing program had a remarkable impact. The state saw a massive increase in the engagement and influence of small, in-district donors.
“Candidates have already begun to sign up for the program for the 2026 cycle, the first in which qualifying candidates for statewide office, including governor, can use public matching funds to power their campaigns. Full funding for the public financing program will ensure that voters can make their voices heard in those elections.
“The executive budget also includes important funding for the local boards of elections that keep our democracy running and $2.5 million for a statewide database for voting and election data demonstrating New York’s commitment to serving the needs of its voters.
"We applaud Governor Hochul for honoring her commitment to these transformative reforms. We urge Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Heastie, and the members of the State Senate and Assembly to ensure that the funding that Governor Hochul allocated for them is included in full in the state’s final fiscal year 2026 budget.”
Background
New York’s voluntary small donor public financing program was enacted in 2020 to “ensure a government that is accountable to all of the voters of the state regardless of wealth or position.” It provides participating candidates with a multiple match on contributions of $250 or less from the constituents they seek to serve.
Brennan Center Resources
- “Fifteen Years Later, Citizens United Defined the 2024 Election” (Marina Pino and Julia Fishman, Brennan Center, January 14, 2025)
- “Small Donor Public Financing, Explained” (Mariana Paez and Ian Vandewalker, Brennan Center, June 29, 2023
