Reforming NYC Campaign Finance Ahead of 2017 Elections

The New York City Council is working to strengthen the city's campaign finance laws and insulate elections from the consequences of outside money trying to buy influence.

The proposals would implement a number of recommendations made by the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) in its 2013 post-election report.

Eight bills move to make determinations about:

- Public funds payments earlier in the election cycle.
- Reduce the impact of bundling by people doing business with the city.
- Add flexibility to the Voter Guide mandate.
- Address various technical aspects of elections such as voter guides, debate eligibility, and contributions from non-registered political committees.

The Council wants to make sure that for the 2017 election cycle, New York City is prepared for fair inclusionary and transparent campaigns.

CLICK HERE to read the 150 page (PDF) 2013 Post-Election report.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

Tracking NY City & State Campaign Finance Data

Officials from the New York State Board of Elections (BOE) and the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) outlined plans for overhauling their respective financial disclosure tools on Friday.

Though both groups said they wanted to make it easier for campaign staff to file reports and for the public to access filings, a divide was clear between the State BOE and the City CFB in terms of current capabilities and goals. Some of BOE's planned features, such as error-checking and bulk data export, for example, are already present on CFB's platform.

Thomas Connolly, BOE's deputy director of public communications, said the board plans to roll out new finance and tracking systems by early 2017, replacing the current 1990s-era software. "Our goal is to create a state-of-the-art candidate tracking and campaign finance system that is open and transparent," he said to the audience of around 50 at Civic Hall in Gramercy. The event was co-hosted by good government group Reinvent Albany, which often scrutinizes campaign finance data and calls for significant reforms.

Currently, the State BOE operates separate and unintegrated candidate tracking and campaign finance systems, "both old enough to vote," Connolly quipped, that require a lot of manual input. BOE's new systems would integrate the two sides on the web, instead of the current desktop software. Campaign staff will file disclosures on a website, instead of using desktop software, which would also warn users if they enter incomplete or invalid information. The public-facing website will also feature more advanced search and data-export functions than currently available.

Some are disappointed that the BOE will not have its new systems up and running for the 2016 election cycle, during which all of the state legislature is on the ballot again.

In response to multiple questions from audience members about whether or not campaign contributors will be assigned unique IDs in the system, which would allow users to see where else a donor has given, Connolly said that he doesn't foresee that being implemented. He pointed to the difficulties posed by misspelled names, different people with similar names, and inconsistent abbreviations. The new filing system will, however, feature autofill to help minimize those errors. "Our goal is that we'd rather get you flawed data than no data," Connolly said.

Though the City CFB's filing system, C-SMART, was also created in the 1990s, it has since been updated to run on the web and includes many of the features that the State BOE is eyeing. As campaign staff enter contributor data, they receive prompts and warnings if entries are invalid, incomplete, or ineligible for CFB's public matching funds program. Addresses within New York City are checked against Department of City Planning records.

The state is at the very beginning stages of toying with a similar public matching funds program, but even a pilot has struggled to get off the ground.

CFB spokesperson Eric Friedman, Assistant Executive Director for Public Affairs, said Friday that the board constantly improves its systems because it's required to do so after every election cycle. Some of CFB's upcoming developments Friedman mentioned will address a city law passed last year that requires independent committees to disclose donor information, showing which committees supported which candidates. 2013 was the first city election cycle in the post-Citizens United world, in which independent expenditures were a significant force in city campaigns. The CFB is making its updates leading up to the city's 2017 cycle, while also adapting to new legal requirements.

Other CFB developments are primarily aimed at simplifying and improving the reporting process for campaign staff. One tool, for example, would allow campaigns to directly transfer contributor data from online donations into C-SMART. "A lot of compliance logic is built into it," Friedman said. "So campaigns have a lot of data to ensure their data is compliant."

Still, officials from both boards said that some features requested by good-government groups, like unique contributor IDs and contributors' professional affiliations, will have to be first answered with legislation. And they added that while individual campaigns can and do correct contributor data, there is little that can be done on the software side to resolve issues like false or misspelled names and addresses.

"The requirements of what the contributor is required to disclose is a matter of statues," Douglas Kellner, Co-Chair of the State BOE, said in response to a question about obtaining more data on contributors, including voter registration status. "I don't think either the Campaign Finance Board or the State Board of Elections has authority to go beyond those disclosure requirements in their regulations."

"It's always going to be up to the candidate or the treasurer to update or modify their data," said Daniel Cho, Director of Candidate Services at CFB.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

NYC Voter Assistance Advisory Committee

Isn't it time we made it easier for New Yorkers to vote?

Join us, the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC), at the next New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB), public hearing on 2/19 to discuss election reforms that will help New York City voters' cast a timely, informed ballot.

We want to hear from you!











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Texting Donations Coming to NYC Campaign Finance Program

By year's end, the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) is expected to pass new rules that will govern how campaigns accept contributions via text message.  The rules stem from Local Law 11 of 2013 which allows candidates running for local offices to accept contributions through what is typically a cell-phone-based format.  If a text-message donor is a New York City resident, the given funds will be eligible for public matching dollars from the CFB.

"Text message contributions provide candidates with the potential to engage a wider set of contributors and the Board with an opportunity to expand the reach of New York City's landmark small donor matching funds program," CFB Chair Rose Gill Hearn said on Monday at a public hearing on the proposed rules.  "There are, however, practical challenges to text message fundraising."

The CFB held Monday's hearing on the proposed rules to address some of those challenges with stakeholders.  The proposed rules will limit text message contributions to $99, a cap the CFB says will help ensure eligibility compliance.  There was no objection to the donation limit at Monday's hearing, but there was a hearty discussion about the rules regarding the timing of texted contributions and how candidates will verify donors are using their own phones.

Text message contributions will be fairly easy to make, but the process is more complex than a simple credit card or cash donation.  For starters, the fees for such donations are exponentially higher than credit card fees, in some cases reaching 50 percent.  Non-profits like the Red Cross, which was among the first to use text message donations in 2010 following the disastrous earthquake in Haiti, are able to negotiate a lower rate because of their humanitarian missions.

But campaigns do not have that ability, at least not yet.  The question for the CFB is how to take a fee into account when establishing limits and matching funds.  With credit card fees, which are significantly lower than text messaging fees, the CFB currently counts the amount delivered to the candidate, not the original donation amount.  The fee is considered an expense and goes against candidate spending limits.  When considering matching funds, the CFB matches the full contribution to the candidate, not what is delivered after fees are deducted.

Citizens Union, a good government group, wants to see the credit card rules continue with text messaging.  Since the technology is new, it is unlikely the CFB will stray far from its current rules, although that could change before 2017 when text message donations may be used widely.

Another thorny issue the CFB must consider is the timing of its release of matching funds.  Text message donations are not paid to campaigns until the cell phone bill of the donor is paid, leaving a much larger gap than traditional credit card or cash donations.

To help get money to campaigns faster a third party messaging vendor is often used.  The messaging vendor buys a campaign's accounts receivables at a discount, giving the campaign a portion of texted donations up front.  Once the cell phone bill is paid and the balance received, the messaging vendor gives the rest to the campaign (this is, in part, why fees are so high on text message donations).

The CFB will have to decide when eligible funds are to be matched: at the time of donation, when the messaging vendor pays the campaign, or when the cell phone bill is paid.  No decision on this matter was reached at Monday's hearing, but guidance is expected in the final rules.

Lauren George, associate director of Common Cause New York, another good government group, suggested campaigns focus on soliciting text message donations earlier in election season to allow for the longer process.

Verification, especially for funds a candidate is trying to have matched, will be a critical step in the text message donation process.  But how that will be done is still up in the air, simply using the name and address on the cell phone bill as verification does not always work.

Many cell phone users are a part of family plans where the bill comes under one name and address, but users may live elsewhere.  Robert Bishop, a lawyer representing several candidate committees, pointed to his own family plan with his wife and three daughters as an example.  The bill is in his name, but his children live all over the country.

The Board is expected to adopt a set of rules for text message donations by the end of this year, but those rules may change drastically depending on how the technology is used in the 2016 presidential election. : In 2012, President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney both accepted text message donations.  They were used, though, on a very small scale because the Federal Election Commission approved the regulations only a few months before Election Day.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Student Voter Registration Day, Council Resolution No. 281

New York City Council Resolution No. 281, would establish an official Student Voter Registration Day (SVRD) in New York City.

The resolution, introduced by Council Members Helen Rosenthal, Ben Kallos, and Mark Levine, calls on Mayor de Blasio to sign an executive order requiring New York City public schools to observe SVRD.  Schools would hold activities and voter registration drives aimed at increasing student participation in the political process.  SVRD would take place annually on the third Friday in March.

“SVRD will encourage a sense of importance in voter registration by encouraging schools to hold civic activities and drives to promote participation in the political process,” said Youth Voter Coordinator Chyann Sapp.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB)’s Voter Assistance Advisory Committee on August 5 endorsed City Council Resolution No. 281, which would establish an official Student Voter Registration Day (SVRD) in New York City.

NYC Votes fully supports the proposal.

NYC Votes gears up for National Voter Registration Day on September 23, 2014.  NYC Votes will partner with local organizations to host two big voter registration events in Manhattan.  With additional on-the-street drives across the five boroughs, NYC Votes will try to engage New York City citizens in civic education and participation.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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New York City Council Approves Campaign Donations Via Text Message

The New York City Council passed a bill (Intro 764-A) that would allow the campaigns of candidates running for local office to collect donations up to $99 via text messaging.  Using the 2012 presidential campaigns as models, both the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaigns accepted texted donations after the Federal Election Commission approved their use, the city is giving the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) the leeway to explore how the system would be implemented.  The board itself testified in support of the bill at an October hearing.

New York’s system will be the first in which texts donations are eligible for matching funds.

“The City’s landmark campaign finance program is designed to expand the role of small-dollar contributions, amplify the voice of average New Yorkers, and reduce the role of special interests in our elections,” said Matt Sollars, a spokesman for the CFB, adding that the bill would also help candidates and the program keep pace with current technology.

The bill’s co-sponsor, Councilwoman Gale Brewer, explained that the $99 maximum donation would require a minimum amount of paperwork from donors.

“The New York City campaign finance system is often lauded as one of the country’s best examples of how to encourage small donors to be involved in political campaigns, instead of relying on large contributions,” Brewer said. “With this legislation, we hope to make it easier for people who may not be otherwise connected to political fundraising to participate in the process, making elected officials accountable to a multitude of constituents, not just deep-pocketed special interests.”

Brewer went on to note that there are some obvious issues that still need to be sorted, most notably shared cell phone plans.  The bill leaves it to the CFB to address how to verify that the text’s sender, and not just the bill payer, actually donated to a campaign and provides the information required by campaign finance law.

“The CFB is aware of all these questions and they’re already thinking about them,” Brewer said on Tuesday.

ONLINE BALLOT ACCESS

The Council also passed a bill (Intro 488) to require the City Board of Elections to post sample ballots online, a practice that the board had already begun to do voluntarily in recent elections.  The sample ballots, which can be found on the board’s website by inputting a voter’s address, were often referred to during this year’s election as a way to reduce voter confusion with the 6-point font used on the two-page ballot.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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