Assembly Advancing the Comptroller Campaign Finance Reform Act

Last week, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli submitted a program bill to the Legislature to provide (according to the Comptroller’s press release) “comprehensive election reform program including public financing of campaigns for the Office of State Comptroller.”  The bill (A.8367, Silver) is titled the Comptroller Campaign Finance Reform Act.

This bill would provide candidates for the Office of State Comptroller the option to receive publicly funded matching campaign contributions.  Participants would have to agree to limit their spending and contributions, participate in at least one debate and submit to monitoring and auditing of campaign expenditures by a newly created oversight entity.

The new, seven-member Campaign Finance Fund Board (CFFB) would monitor and audit the program and enforce its provisions. The CFFB would be composed of one member appointed by the Governor and each legislative leader of both houses and two members appointed by the Governor upon consultation with the leaders of non-partisan citizens’ groups. One of these two members shall be designated as the chair.

Contributions would be limited to $2,000, and participants would have to cap their spending in a primary ($5 million) and the general election ($10 million).

In order to participate in the program, a candidate would have to raise at least $150,000 in individual “matchable contributions” – the first $250 of each contribution.  Matching funds would be disbursed at a rate of $6 for each dollar of a matchable contributions raised for both the primary and general elections

Where a participating candidate faces a non-participating candidate, he or she would program and spends more than the proposed limit in a primary or a general election, the Campaign Finance Fund would provide participating candidates a match of $7 for every $1 contributed until the non-participating candidate spends two times the spending cap.

The bill was introduced on Tuesday, and was referred by the Election Law Committee to the Codes Committee.

Given the lack of a Senate sponsor, the bill is unlikely to become law.  But the New York Times editorial board approves of the proposal.