March 30, 2025 • 15 mins
Original Air Date: March 30, 2025
Thinking of running for office in NYC? The NYC Campaign Finance Board has a matching funds program!! Press Secretary Tim Hunter as all the details!
Thinking of running for office in NYC? The NYC Campaign Finance Board has a matching funds program!! Press Secretary Tim Hunter as all the details!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, Conversations about issues that matter.
Here's your host, three time Gracie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I want to introduce you to Tim Hunter. He is
with the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and he
is here this morning to talk about their matching Funds program.
And this is basically matching funds for those of you
who are thinking of running for office in New York City.
Welcome Tim and tell us about the program. How does
(00:33):
it work?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Well, thank you so much for having me today, Shelly, So,
the Campaign Finance Board administers a robust program, a matching
funds program that allows everyday New Yorkers to run for
municipal office.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Here.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Those are city wide offices that include mayor, comptroller, public advocate,
or local legislative offices, which is basically the city council.
As it relates to how we got here. The program
started in the nineteen eighty eight in response to a
series of corruption scandals that occurred right here in New
York City. In an effort to kind of curb that corruption,
(01:06):
the city passed the number of measures, including the New
York City Campaign Finance Act, which regulated campaigns disclosed spending
to the public and instituted a.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
One to one match.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Since then, nearly forty years later, that match has grown
to an eight to one match, which means that if
you give ten dollars to a candidate that's running to
represent you, it's matched with eighty dollars from tax payer money,
which basically turns a ten dollars contribution into ninety dollars. Therefore,
like stretching the dollar of local contributors that are giving
(01:39):
to candidates that they support, allowing their voices to be heard.
Especially at a time where corporate interests and the wealthy
elite are kind of bankrolling a lot of candidates for
public office. This program basically gives working class New Yorkers
a voice and allows them to participate in our democracy
in another way outside of voting and you know, campaigning
(02:01):
for their candidate.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
This is individuals contributing. But is there a cap? I mean,
if an individual wants to give a million dollars to
a campaign, you're not going to match it, you know
eight times?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
No? No, definitely not no, no, we're not.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
That would be far above So we have a as well,
be far above our spending limits. Even so we have
a number of measures in place to kind of prevent
people from taking advantage of the program. Number one is
that we're constantly auditing, right, So one, we don't match
more than the first if it's citywide, first two fifty
of contributions, so you're never going to get more than
(02:41):
two hundred and fifty dollars matched. We also have contribution limits,
so candidate's running for city office can't receive more than
twenty one hundred dollars from any contributor. So there's are
individual contribution limits, so you can't give more than a
certain amount. And then candidates have spending limits if their
program participants, which means in any given election they can't
(03:02):
spend I think the number is right around the seven
point two seven point three million dollars for citywide offices
such as mayor. That number gets lower as you get
to like lower offices like comptroller, borough president.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
And city council.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
For city council candidates aren't allowed to spend, you know,
over two hundred thousand dollars. We've recently changed that that
number to kind of make sure that we're adjusting for
inflation as spending has the cost of running for office
has gotten even more expensive.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
As of late.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
But yeah, we have a number of restrictions in place
to ensure that you know, candidates are in full compliance
with our program, including not matching those one million dollar contributions.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Well, no one can ever even give one million dollars.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
To a candidate that's participating in our program anyway, So.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Is Mayor Adams eligible for the matching funds?
Speaker 3 (03:52):
So I'm not allowed to comment on current candidates. Most
of our candidates are undergoing the audit process. We do
an audit process real time, and we also do a
post election audit. The Campaign Finance Board decline to pay
Mayor Eric Adams in our December board meeting citing compliance reasons.
You can feel free to read some of the articles
(04:13):
that have been published about that back in December. But
candidates have an opportunity to get paid at every single
board meeting. So every time we have a board meeting,
we review the list of candidates and we decide whether
or not they're going to get paid or not get
paid to meet.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
The threshold for payment.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
It's a two part fundraising threshold, so you need to
We're not just giving public funds to everyone. You have
to earn it. Candidates need to do the groundwork. For
citywide offices such as mayor, you have to receive two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars in matchable contributions, not just
total contributions. These need to be like the match eligible
two to fifty threshold that we talked about, and they
(04:50):
have to get a thousand contributions from New York City residents.
So once you meet that two part threshold, if you're
in compliance with the rest of the Campaign Finance Act,
then you'll be eligible for public funds. And we don't
give out more than a certain amount of public funds
for each candidate office that people are running for, so
we're never giving unlimited money out to candidates. Again, this
(05:10):
is a program that's earned, it's not given.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Dude. The candidates find out about this program when they
make the initial announcement. How does that work? At what
point are they aware of the matching funds program?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Well, running for office takes a lot. You know, I
personally ran for office myself. I ran for a State
Assembly seat in Brooklyn, and you know, at first you
got to start with getting the community buy in. So
if you're thinking about running for office, you got to
talk to community members. This is not something that you
can do on your own. It takes a village. And
then every single candidate that's running for municipal office has
(05:50):
to register with the Campaign Finance Board whether they're opting
into the matching funds program or whether they or not.
So once candidates opt in, we have a number of
trainings that are mandatory for participants to ensure that they're
in compliance with our disclosure rules, uploading their bank statements,
uploading contributions, uploading all their expenditures.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
It's a very rigorous process. And then after they.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Complete these trainings, we will then have conversations about whether
or not they're willing to participate in the program, express
all the rules of the program and things that people
need to know to make sure that they're continuing to
be in compliance, because if they're not in compliance, they'll
face penalties down the line when we get into our
post election audit process, and those penalties can get pretty
(06:33):
large if you're ignoring our rules. You know, our job
is to safeguard tax perier dollars and we want to
make sure that those are being spent appropriately.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
I'm speaking with Tim Hunter. He is with the New
York City Campaign Finance Board and we're talking about the
matching funds program. So tell me about your run. When
did you run for Assembly and what made you decide
to run for Assembly. How old were you then?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Well, I was twenty two years old when I announced
that I was running for Assembly, and you know, it
was community.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Like I said earlier, it was you.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Know, basically a lot of community conversations. And I think that,
you know, when I look back on my run, one
thing that I missed out on was public funds. You know,
there wasn't public funds at the state level at the time,
so as a younger candidate, it was much harder for
me to fundraise, and I spent a lot of time
calling donors well, which were basically just my family members
(07:26):
and friends, asking them for money, and a lot of
them didn't really have the money to give me. You know,
the cost of living in New York City is very expensive.
So when I got the opportunity to work at the
Campaign Finance Board to be able to come and have
lovely conversations with people like you about our amazing program
and our amazing audit process and all of the voter
engagement work that we're doing. I jumped at that opportunity
(07:49):
because I have experience, you know, as a former candidate
going through the motions myself, and I want to do
everything in my power to make it possible for everyday
New Yorkers, our teachers, our small business owners, you know
those people.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
They deserve to have a voice.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
At the table, and I hope that more of them
decide to run for public office as well.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Were you an activist before you were running. I'm just
trying to get a feel for why you felt such
a commitment to your community that you wanted to run.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Yes, I spent a lot of time working in the
state legislature, so I had some experience there.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
I was a former activist.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
I was a counity organizer, so I did a lot
of organizing in my Cuny community. I'm a two time
Cunity grad, very proud of it. My mom's also a
QUNI alum. So I felt like when I saw the
crumbling infrastructure of our schools, when I felt when I saw,
you know, the lack of response to COVID in my community,
I felt like we needed someone to step up. And
(08:43):
you know what it is is you know you're running
Obviously you want to win an election, but you're also
running to put ideas on the table. You're running to
raise awareness about issues that directly impact you, which is
why our Matching Funds program is so great, because it
enables candidates to do so. In twenty twenty one, gave
out over one hundred and twenty million dollars in public
funds the candidates across the board. And as a result
(09:06):
of that, you know, not just because of us, but
because some of these candidates the community felt that they
were the right leaders to elect. We had elected the
most diverse city council. New York City has ever seen
a record number of women, record number of people of color.
And that's exactly what the program allows candidates to do,
non traditional candidates, giving them the opportunity to represent the
(09:29):
communities that they hope to serve.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
At the end of the campaign, I understand, if you
haven't spent all the money, you have to return money
to the Matching Funds program at the New York City
Campaign Finance Board. How does that all work? It sounds
so complicated.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, it's not that complicated when you think about how
much money we give out, right, So if we're giving
out one hundred thousand dollars to a candidate and they
have money left over they need to return back that
We give out tax payer dollars, and we want to
make sure that if there's an opportunity to recoup them,
that we're trying to recoup as much of it as
we possibly can. So it's more of an incentive for
(10:10):
candidates to continue to spend and to take their candidacy
seriously and to not like hold on to money that
could be spent getting their name out there or like
raising awareness about the upcoming election. We have a very
low voter turnout in our local elections and that's something
that we've been working towards trying to fix, and of
course we play a role, The Board of Elections plays
(10:32):
a role, but the candidates themselves also play a role,
because you want to turn people out so that they
know that there's an election and that they are interested
and excited to vote for you. So you candidates are
expected to not only be in compliance with our rules,
but to return public funds or the amount of public
funds that they've received at the end of the election.
If they've spent all the money, then there's nothing to
(10:54):
return and there's nothing to.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Really worry about.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
But if they didn't spend it, and they are program
particip they have to give that money back. And it's
kind of our way to make sure that we're not
wasting taxpayer dollars.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Just out of curiosity. Have you noticed more interest in
running for office or less interest for running for office
in New York City since the inauguration or even since
the election?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Well, I think you know, we're a non partisan, independent entity,
so you know, we try not to wade into the partisan.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Waters too much.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
But I think there's always interest in running for office
when people see a pathway. I think because of our program,
we're seeing record number of candidates sign up and opt
in to be part of the program. We're seeing more participants,
more people that want to get matching funds versus non participants.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
I want to say maybe every single candidate.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
That's running for mayor except for maybe one or two,
are opting into this program because they see it as
an opportunity to raise awareness and to allow public taxpayer
dollars to both thir their campaign in a meaningful way
that allows them to reach out. And again, we're not
just giving people this money. It's earned so you have
to do the groundwork and get those contributions and make
(12:08):
sure that they're in district residence, they're in New York
City residents. And that's a very important part of our
program and making sure we're activating New Yorkers that are
going to be voting in these upcoming elections, not people
from outside of New York City. While they're it's okay
for them to donate, we want to make sure we're
matching residents. We're matching contributions from residents that live here
and that vote here and are impacted by the policies
(12:30):
that these lawmakers and leaders will be enacting or proposing.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And the matching is only if you are a New
York City resident who is donating to a campaign, not
an outsider.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Yes, only for New York City residents.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
We also don't match contributions for contributors that are doing
business with the city. We understand that there, you know,
is a little bit of public distrust in government with
the current political.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Climate right now.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
However, what we do with our program is we try
to eliminate quid pro quo or the pay for play.
We don't want people that are giving to candidates in
exchange for city contracts. So we have even lower contribution
limits for contributors that are doing business or have contracts
with the city, and we also do not match those
contributions to ensure that people aren't getting an extra leg
(13:21):
up from contributors that may have another motive.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
But how would you know if an individual worked for
a company that have a contract with the city.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
That's a great question.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
So we have a Doing Business Database that basically all
of the contractors that have business before the city live
on this database, and that is what we use to
determine whether or not a contribution should be limited, or
whether or not we should not match that contribution.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Even if it's a New York City resident, we.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Won't match it if that person is on the Doing
Business Database list.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
We only have about a minute and a half left, So,
Tim Hunter, anything that we haven't touched on that you
would like people to know about.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Yeah, well, of course, we definitely want to make sure
everyone knows about our matching funds program and that they
know that there's other ways to participate in our democracy
besides door knocking, petitioning, and even like going on social
media to voice your support for a candidate. You can
stretch your dollar by using this matching funds program. We
also want to just raise awareness about why we're doing
(14:21):
this matching funds program. We have a very competitive June
primary coming up. There's going to be a number of
races on the ballot. The election day is June twenty fourth,
so if you're not a registered to vote, make sure
you get registered before June fourteen, so you have ten
days before the primary to make sure that your voter
registration is in update your address because you're not only
going to be voting for the upcoming mayoral race, but
(14:42):
also for comptroller, public advocate, borough presidents. Depending on your
borough and city council races, you might even have a
competitive district attorney race. Now, we have a lot of
interesting information on our website at nyccfb dot info if
you want to learn more about the matching funds program.
But don't forget, we're also using ranked choice voting this
year in this upcoming election, where you can rank up
(15:05):
to five candidates on your ballot, So if you're torn
between a few candidates, you can rank them and you
can find more information about that at NYC votes dot org.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Okay, and let's slower this time.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Your website, so our website a campaign finance board is
nyc CFB dot info again. It's NYC CFB dot info.
That's all information related to the matching funds program, and
for information about voting in the upcoming election cycle, you
can visit NYC votes dot org.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Again. That's NYC votes dot org.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Fantastic, Thank you so much, Tim Hutter.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
You've been listening to Sunsteen sessions on iHeartRadio. The production
of New York's classic rock Q one oh four point
three
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, Conversations about issues that matter.
Here's your host, three time Gracie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I want to introduce you to Tim Hunter. He is
with the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and he
is here this morning to talk about their matching Funds program.
And this is basically matching funds for those of you
who are thinking of running for office in New York City.
Welcome Tim and tell us about the program. How does
(00:33):
it work?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Well, thank you so much for having me today, Shelly, So,
the Campaign Finance Board administers a robust program, a matching
funds program that allows everyday New Yorkers to run for
municipal office.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Here.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Those are city wide offices that include mayor, comptroller, public advocate,
or local legislative offices, which is basically the city council.
As it relates to how we got here. The program
started in the nineteen eighty eight in response to a
series of corruption scandals that occurred right here in New
York City. In an effort to kind of curb that corruption,
(01:06):
the city passed the number of measures, including the New
York City Campaign Finance Act, which regulated campaigns disclosed spending
to the public and instituted a.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
One to one match.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Since then, nearly forty years later, that match has grown
to an eight to one match, which means that if
you give ten dollars to a candidate that's running to
represent you, it's matched with eighty dollars from tax payer money,
which basically turns a ten dollars contribution into ninety dollars. Therefore,
like stretching the dollar of local contributors that are giving
(01:39):
to candidates that they support, allowing their voices to be heard.
Especially at a time where corporate interests and the wealthy
elite are kind of bankrolling a lot of candidates for
public office. This program basically gives working class New Yorkers
a voice and allows them to participate in our democracy
in another way outside of voting and you know, campaigning
(02:01):
for their candidate.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
This is individuals contributing. But is there a cap? I mean,
if an individual wants to give a million dollars to
a campaign, you're not going to match it, you know
eight times?
Speaker 4 (02:17):
No? No, definitely not no, no, we're not.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
That would be far above So we have a as well,
be far above our spending limits. Even so we have
a number of measures in place to kind of prevent
people from taking advantage of the program. Number one is
that we're constantly auditing, right, So one, we don't match
more than the first if it's citywide, first two fifty
of contributions, so you're never going to get more than
(02:41):
two hundred and fifty dollars matched. We also have contribution limits,
so candidate's running for city office can't receive more than
twenty one hundred dollars from any contributor. So there's are
individual contribution limits, so you can't give more than a
certain amount. And then candidates have spending limits if their
program participants, which means in any given election they can't
(03:02):
spend I think the number is right around the seven
point two seven point three million dollars for citywide offices
such as mayor. That number gets lower as you get
to like lower offices like comptroller, borough president.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
And city council.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
For city council candidates aren't allowed to spend, you know,
over two hundred thousand dollars. We've recently changed that that
number to kind of make sure that we're adjusting for
inflation as spending has the cost of running for office
has gotten even more expensive.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
As of late.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
But yeah, we have a number of restrictions in place
to ensure that you know, candidates are in full compliance
with our program, including not matching those one million dollar contributions.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Well, no one can ever even give one million dollars.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
To a candidate that's participating in our program anyway, So.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Is Mayor Adams eligible for the matching funds?
Speaker 3 (03:52):
So I'm not allowed to comment on current candidates. Most
of our candidates are undergoing the audit process. We do
an audit process real time, and we also do a
post election audit. The Campaign Finance Board decline to pay
Mayor Eric Adams in our December board meeting citing compliance reasons.
You can feel free to read some of the articles
(04:13):
that have been published about that back in December. But
candidates have an opportunity to get paid at every single
board meeting. So every time we have a board meeting,
we review the list of candidates and we decide whether
or not they're going to get paid or not get
paid to meet.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
The threshold for payment.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
It's a two part fundraising threshold, so you need to
We're not just giving public funds to everyone. You have
to earn it. Candidates need to do the groundwork. For
citywide offices such as mayor, you have to receive two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars in matchable contributions, not just
total contributions. These need to be like the match eligible
two to fifty threshold that we talked about, and they
(04:50):
have to get a thousand contributions from New York City residents.
So once you meet that two part threshold, if you're
in compliance with the rest of the Campaign Finance Act,
then you'll be eligible for public funds. And we don't
give out more than a certain amount of public funds
for each candidate office that people are running for, so
we're never giving unlimited money out to candidates. Again, this
(05:10):
is a program that's earned, it's not given.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Dude. The candidates find out about this program when they
make the initial announcement. How does that work? At what
point are they aware of the matching funds program?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Well, running for office takes a lot. You know, I
personally ran for office myself. I ran for a State
Assembly seat in Brooklyn, and you know, at first you
got to start with getting the community buy in. So
if you're thinking about running for office, you got to
talk to community members. This is not something that you
can do on your own. It takes a village. And
then every single candidate that's running for municipal office has
(05:50):
to register with the Campaign Finance Board whether they're opting
into the matching funds program or whether they or not.
So once candidates opt in, we have a number of
trainings that are mandatory for participants to ensure that they're
in compliance with our disclosure rules, uploading their bank statements,
uploading contributions, uploading all their expenditures.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
It's a very rigorous process. And then after they.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Complete these trainings, we will then have conversations about whether
or not they're willing to participate in the program, express
all the rules of the program and things that people
need to know to make sure that they're continuing to
be in compliance, because if they're not in compliance, they'll
face penalties down the line when we get into our
post election audit process, and those penalties can get pretty
(06:33):
large if you're ignoring our rules. You know, our job
is to safeguard tax perier dollars and we want to
make sure that those are being spent appropriately.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
I'm speaking with Tim Hunter. He is with the New
York City Campaign Finance Board and we're talking about the
matching funds program. So tell me about your run. When
did you run for Assembly and what made you decide
to run for Assembly. How old were you then?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Well, I was twenty two years old when I announced
that I was running for Assembly, and you know, it
was community.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Like I said earlier, it was you.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Know, basically a lot of community conversations. And I think that,
you know, when I look back on my run, one
thing that I missed out on was public funds. You know,
there wasn't public funds at the state level at the time,
so as a younger candidate, it was much harder for
me to fundraise, and I spent a lot of time
calling donors well, which were basically just my family members
(07:26):
and friends, asking them for money, and a lot of
them didn't really have the money to give me. You know,
the cost of living in New York City is very expensive.
So when I got the opportunity to work at the
Campaign Finance Board to be able to come and have
lovely conversations with people like you about our amazing program
and our amazing audit process and all of the voter
engagement work that we're doing. I jumped at that opportunity
(07:49):
because I have experience, you know, as a former candidate
going through the motions myself, and I want to do
everything in my power to make it possible for everyday
New Yorkers, our teachers, our small business owners, you know
those people.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
They deserve to have a voice.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
At the table, and I hope that more of them
decide to run for public office as well.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Were you an activist before you were running. I'm just
trying to get a feel for why you felt such
a commitment to your community that you wanted to run.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Yes, I spent a lot of time working in the
state legislature, so I had some experience there.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
I was a former activist.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
I was a counity organizer, so I did a lot
of organizing in my Cuny community. I'm a two time
Cunity grad, very proud of it. My mom's also a
QUNI alum. So I felt like when I saw the
crumbling infrastructure of our schools, when I felt when I saw,
you know, the lack of response to COVID in my community,
I felt like we needed someone to step up. And
(08:43):
you know what it is is you know you're running
Obviously you want to win an election, but you're also
running to put ideas on the table. You're running to
raise awareness about issues that directly impact you, which is
why our Matching Funds program is so great, because it
enables candidates to do so. In twenty twenty one, gave
out over one hundred and twenty million dollars in public
funds the candidates across the board. And as a result
(09:06):
of that, you know, not just because of us, but
because some of these candidates the community felt that they
were the right leaders to elect. We had elected the
most diverse city council. New York City has ever seen
a record number of women, record number of people of color.
And that's exactly what the program allows candidates to do,
non traditional candidates, giving them the opportunity to represent the
(09:29):
communities that they hope to serve.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
At the end of the campaign, I understand, if you
haven't spent all the money, you have to return money
to the Matching Funds program at the New York City
Campaign Finance Board. How does that all work? It sounds
so complicated.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, it's not that complicated when you think about how
much money we give out, right, So if we're giving
out one hundred thousand dollars to a candidate and they
have money left over they need to return back that
We give out tax payer dollars, and we want to
make sure that if there's an opportunity to recoup them,
that we're trying to recoup as much of it as
we possibly can. So it's more of an incentive for
(10:10):
candidates to continue to spend and to take their candidacy
seriously and to not like hold on to money that
could be spent getting their name out there or like
raising awareness about the upcoming election. We have a very
low voter turnout in our local elections and that's something
that we've been working towards trying to fix, and of
course we play a role, The Board of Elections plays
(10:32):
a role, but the candidates themselves also play a role,
because you want to turn people out so that they
know that there's an election and that they are interested
and excited to vote for you. So you candidates are
expected to not only be in compliance with our rules,
but to return public funds or the amount of public
funds that they've received at the end of the election.
If they've spent all the money, then there's nothing to
(10:54):
return and there's nothing to.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Really worry about.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
But if they didn't spend it, and they are program
particip they have to give that money back. And it's
kind of our way to make sure that we're not
wasting taxpayer dollars.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Just out of curiosity. Have you noticed more interest in
running for office or less interest for running for office
in New York City since the inauguration or even since
the election?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Well, I think you know, we're a non partisan, independent entity,
so you know, we try not to wade into the partisan.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Waters too much.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
But I think there's always interest in running for office
when people see a pathway. I think because of our program,
we're seeing record number of candidates sign up and opt
in to be part of the program. We're seeing more participants,
more people that want to get matching funds versus non participants.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
I want to say maybe every single candidate.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
That's running for mayor except for maybe one or two,
are opting into this program because they see it as
an opportunity to raise awareness and to allow public taxpayer
dollars to both thir their campaign in a meaningful way
that allows them to reach out. And again, we're not
just giving people this money. It's earned so you have
to do the groundwork and get those contributions and make
(12:08):
sure that they're in district residence, they're in New York
City residents. And that's a very important part of our
program and making sure we're activating New Yorkers that are
going to be voting in these upcoming elections, not people
from outside of New York City. While they're it's okay
for them to donate, we want to make sure we're
matching residents. We're matching contributions from residents that live here
and that vote here and are impacted by the policies
(12:30):
that these lawmakers and leaders will be enacting or proposing.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And the matching is only if you are a New
York City resident who is donating to a campaign, not
an outsider.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Yes, only for New York City residents.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
We also don't match contributions for contributors that are doing
business with the city. We understand that there, you know,
is a little bit of public distrust in government with
the current political.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Climate right now.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
However, what we do with our program is we try
to eliminate quid pro quo or the pay for play.
We don't want people that are giving to candidates in
exchange for city contracts. So we have even lower contribution
limits for contributors that are doing business or have contracts
with the city, and we also do not match those
contributions to ensure that people aren't getting an extra leg
(13:21):
up from contributors that may have another motive.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
But how would you know if an individual worked for
a company that have a contract with the city.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
That's a great question.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
So we have a Doing Business Database that basically all
of the contractors that have business before the city live
on this database, and that is what we use to
determine whether or not a contribution should be limited, or
whether or not we should not match that contribution.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Even if it's a New York City resident, we.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Won't match it if that person is on the Doing
Business Database list.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
We only have about a minute and a half left, So,
Tim Hunter, anything that we haven't touched on that you
would like people to know about.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Yeah, well, of course, we definitely want to make sure
everyone knows about our matching funds program and that they
know that there's other ways to participate in our democracy
besides door knocking, petitioning, and even like going on social
media to voice your support for a candidate. You can
stretch your dollar by using this matching funds program. We
also want to just raise awareness about why we're doing
(14:21):
this matching funds program. We have a very competitive June
primary coming up. There's going to be a number of
races on the ballot. The election day is June twenty fourth,
so if you're not a registered to vote, make sure
you get registered before June fourteen, so you have ten
days before the primary to make sure that your voter
registration is in update your address because you're not only
going to be voting for the upcoming mayoral race, but
(14:42):
also for comptroller, public advocate, borough presidents. Depending on your
borough and city council races, you might even have a
competitive district attorney race. Now, we have a lot of
interesting information on our website at nyccfb dot info if
you want to learn more about the matching funds program.
But don't forget, we're also using ranked choice voting this
year in this upcoming election, where you can rank up
(15:05):
to five candidates on your ballot, So if you're torn
between a few candidates, you can rank them and you
can find more information about that at NYC votes dot org.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Okay, and let's slower this time.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Your website, so our website a campaign finance board is
nyc CFB dot info again. It's NYC CFB dot info.
That's all information related to the matching funds program, and
for information about voting in the upcoming election cycle, you
can visit NYC votes dot org.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Again. That's NYC votes dot org.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Fantastic, Thank you so much, Tim Hutter.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
You've been listening to Sunsteen sessions on iHeartRadio. The production
of New York's classic rock Q one oh four point
three
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