Public Financing: Constitutional. Effective.

CFB Executive Director Amy Loprest penned the following letter in response to Jill Lepore’s story, “The Crooked and the Dead," in the August 25, 2014 edition of the New Yorker.

Dear editor:

Jill Lepore deftly illustrates how New York’s campaign finance laws allow corruption to thrive at the state level: the massive spending by lobbyists; the predominance of big donors.

Ms. Lepore notes that Governor Cuomo’s Moreland Commission recommended several ways to clean up the mess. But she adds a curious assertion that many of the commission’s proposals would be, “in the eyes of the [U.S. Supreme] Court, unconstitutional.”

This statement is simply misleading. One of the Commission’s central recommendations was for the state to adopt a small-dollar public matching funds system based on the program we administer in New York City. In fact, the Court has recognized that a voluntary public financing program like ours is consistent with the Constitution and helps prevent corruption.

New York City’s system matches contributions from New Yorkers up to $175 with public funds at a rate of $6 to $1. This encourages candidates to raise small contributions from their neighbors and constituents instead of relying on large donors. The incentives work. Candidates last year raised the vast majority of their money from contributors living in the city and more than two-thirds of all city-based contributors gave $175 or less.

Our system won’t eradicate corruption. But, it does provide taxpayers with the confidence that city elections are decided by voters, not large contributions or special interests.

New York City’s 25-year experience with a matching funds system has shown us that it is effective, and it is constitutional.

Sincerely,

Amy Loprest

Executive Director, New York City Campaign Finance Board