Big Money Got You Down in 2014? We're Making NYC's Public Matching Funds System Even Stronger

As the 2014 election cycle comes in for a landing on Tuesday, much of the political news and commentary is focused on the outsized role of big money in deciding races, both at the state and federal level. But anyone who paid attention to last year’s elections in New York City knows what we know: even in a post-Citizens United world, we don’t have to accept the unchecked dominance of big money politics.

By making real improvements to strengthen the city’s landmark public matching funds program, the Campaign Finance Board and city lawmakers are increasing opportunities for small donors to play a larger role in elections, and mandating broader disclosure of independent spending. As super-PACs and other outside spenders descend on midterm elections across the nation during 2014, the New York City Council and the CFB have made significant steps to help keep voters in control of New York City elections.

• New transparency for independent spenders. While so-called “dark money” groups are playing a big role in congressional races across the country, all outside groups who funded independent expenditures in last year’s city elections were required to disclose their contributors. Thanks to Local Law 41, enacted in August, future spenders will disclose additional information about their largest donors and the sources of their donors’ funds.
• Text message contributions – now with public matching funds. The CFB is working to develop rules aimed at allowing candidates to accept contributions via text message and receive public matching funds for any eligible contributions. A public hearing will be held on November 24 to review the CFB’s proposed rules.
• New tools for online donations. The CFB will relaunch its NYC Votes contribution platform in 2015 to give candidates powerful fundraising tools – mobile and online – that have been out of reach for many smaller campaigns. Best of all, the tool will enable those contributions to be matched with public funds and will be available for free to all NYC campaigns.
• Strong enforcement. One of the conspicuous storylines of the federal midterms is the prevalence of apparent coordination between Super PACs and the candidates they support, and the difficulty of enforcing laws meant to prevent it. By contrast, the CFB has the tools to enforce city laws meant to prevent coordination between campaigns and outside groups.

These efforts are strengthening the foundation for one of the largest, most successful public financing programs in the entire country. Last year, the city’s matching funds program paid candidates more than $38 million. And our post-election report points to plenty of examples where publicly-financed candidates overcame high-spending self-financed opponents, or outsized independent expenditures.