Fund and Protect New York Public Campaign Finance Program!

We need your help! We need you to call your New York State legislator and demand that the Public Campaign Finance Program be allocated $114.5 million in the state’s final FY 2024/25 budget.  Here’s the skinny!

The Fair Elections for NY Coalition has been fighting for everyday New Yorkers and against corruption, big donors, and lobbyists in Albany for decades. Those who stood in the way of progress included

    • Real Estate Industry, which seeks tax breaks while tenants face eviction
    • Oil & Gas Industry, which resists regulation while our communities suffer from climate disasters
    • Big Health Insurance, which wants our healthcare dollars while denying care to our families

After years of organizing, we have achieved a major victory in 2020: the landmark New York State Public Campaign Finance Program (PCFP). This program has been designed to help reduce the influence of special interests on our elections and put power back in the hands of the people of New York. It is a small-donor public matching funds system that matches the smallest contributions at a ratio of $12-to-$1, helping candidates fund their campaigns without relying on big donors.

The PCFP is already in effect in 2024 for all candidates for the State Assembly and Senate, and more than 245 candidates have registered from all regions of the state, a testament to the program’s popularity.

In January 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul took a positive step by allocating $114.5 million for this program in her executive budget. Now it is time for the State Senate and State Assembly to follow suit by ensuring that their one-house budgets and the state’s final budget reflect the Governor’s proposed $114.5 million for the PCFP.

In addition, the Legislature must also resist the calls to amend the program’s core features in the budget and allow the program to run without any substantive changes in 2024.

Call your legislator and tell them the time is NOW to make sure that the PCFP is fully funded in this year’s budget and that the program must be allowed to run unimpeded in this cycle!

Click-to-Call Your Legislators

What Should I Say?

Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I am [constituent OR concerned New Yorker].

As a Fair Elections for New York coalition member, I would like the [Senator/Assemblymember] to provide the state’s small donor Public Campaign Finance Program with the funds necessary to fulfill its democratic promise. We must protect our democracy and give everyday New Yorkers the power to influence elections instead of allowing big donors to have an outsized impact.

Governor Hochul has allocated funding in her budget, and we are counting on you to act to ensure that the program receives the $114.5 million in funding to fulfill its promise. Now is not the time to waiver. Our communities need and deserve a state government responsive to the needs of the people rather than to big industry donors and the wealthy elite. Together, we won this system, and we must ensure that it is funded and implemented this year without any substantive changes.

Thank you for your time!