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Opinion

The New Public Campaign Finance Program Gives More Influence to Everyday New Yorkers and Less to Wealthy People Like Me — That’s Great, Let’s Make It Happen


Gov. Hochul and other state leaders (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


This November, New York launched a new public campaign finance program for statewide and state legislative candidates. By providing candidates with generous matching funds, the program aims to increase the influence of everyday New Yorkers in Albany. 

I have put a lot of money into politics over the years — and I think that this program is  a great idea. I want every New Yorker to enjoy the same level of access and influence that I have, and I want elected officials to be accountable to everyone, not just rich people like me and my friends. The program will take monumental steps in doing just that. 

In last year’s New York elections, the 200 largest individual donors contributed $15.9 million to candidates, which was about $2 million more than all 206,000 small donors combined. In the federal midterm elections for the U.S. Congress, just 21 of the biggest donor families spent a total of $783 million, which was more than the combined contributions of 3.7 million small donors. Small donors have certainly increased their giving in recent years, but unfortunately, big donors like me have completely and utterly swamped them, especially after the 2010 Citizens United ruling opened the floodgates to independent spending by Super PACs.

The result of the dominance by big money in campaigns is a political system where elected officials are more responsive to the interests and preferences of the rich and special interests. While I benefit personally from this, it’s not what I want in a democracy. Wealthy people definitely vote more often and volunteer more on campaigns, but, at the end of the day, it’s our money that makes the difference to candidates and elected officials.

With its new initiative, New York has taken a significant step in the right direction in fixing this mess. Eligible candidates can voluntarily opt into the program to receive matching funds on small, private donations (up to $250) that they receive from their would-be future constituents. For example, for statewide elections like Governor and Lieutenant Governor, candidates can receive $6 in matching funds for every $1 they receive from small-donor New York residents.

The program will not stop wealthy people like me and my friends from spending big in elections, but it will certainly make our spending less important to our representatives. 11% of contributions to New York legislative candidates in the 2022 cycle came from small donors of $250 or less. By one estimate, under the new program, that figure could increase to as much as 67%. 

The initiative will also incentivize candidates to spend their time fundraising among more of the people that they seek to represent. I don’t want candidates to spend their evenings at swanky law firms rubbing elbows with a smattering of wealthy people like me and my friends – especially if we won’t even be their constituents! Instead, I want candidates to spend their time among everyday New Yorkers, listening and learning about what action really needs to be taken in Albany to improve lives.

Lastly, the program will also break barriers to entry for diverse political candidates like women and people of color, who may not have friends or brothers-in-law who are rich real estate developers or Wall Street financiers. Launching successful campaigns for office is extremely expensive in America, which effectively means that candidates cannot launch viable campaigns without the backing and approval of affluent donors like me.

The new public financing program breaks this cycle and will bring a new set of demographically diverse candidates onto the scene, all of whom will bring a different, unique perspective to Albany with regard to the problems that everyday New Yorkers are facing today. We’ll likely see the same results across the state that we saw in New York City: thanks to the expansion of its own municipal public campaign financing program, in 2021, the city elected its most demographically representative City Council to date.

The program has officially launched, but that doesn’t mean the fight for political equality in New York is over. There are now reports that lawmakers may vote to delay payouts for the program for another two years, despite the fact that over a dozen candidates have already signed up to participate. Moreover, in her 2024 executive budget, Governor Hochul included $39.5 million for the initiative; while generous, it’s not enough to give the program the wings it needs to deliver on its promise.  

In their ongoing budget negotiations, legislators need to take action. According to a newly-released poll, 62% of voters across the Empire State support the new campaign finance program and want to see it fully funded. Lawmakers must do it - without delay.

I am a wealthy New Yorker who wants my voice to be heard, but not any more so than anyone else in the state. I want this program to succeed because I want to get big money out of politics — especially my money. Now it’s up to officials in Albany to make it a reality.  

*** 
Morris Pearl is a former managing director of BlackRock and is the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires. This piece was written in conjunction with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. On Twitter @morris_pearl, @PatrioticMills, & @BrennanCenter.

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Help Needed for Those Helping Newcomers to New York City


Serving asylum-seekers (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


Recently, Mayor Eric Adams traveled to El Paso, Texas to shine a bright light on the burgeoning border crisis ramifications facing New York and other cities. He followed up that visit with a plea for help at a meeting of the American Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C.

When tens of thousands of asylum-seekers, refugees, and other migrants arrived in New York with little more than the clothes on their backs, the immediate focus was on providing temporary housing. In that regard, the city has opened more than 70 emergency shelters and four ‘humanitarian relief centers.’ Without much notice, nonprofit organizations have stepped in since the beginning of this crisis to provide not only a roof over their heads, but a broader range of critical services to support the long-term stability of those who are starting over in New York City.

These organizations have been working with city agencies and putting all their strained resources on the line to help support more than 40,000 newcomers who have arrived in New York since last spring. The city projects up to $4 billion in ultimate costs for these services over two years, and as a result is planning budget cuts in other essential areas. City shelters are filled to capacity and beyond, and Mayor Adams has declared a state of emergency.

The federal government has to date approved $800 million in grants for states, local governments, and nongovernmental organizations dealing with the increase in migrants and thankfully much of it is reportedly expected to flow to New York City. Mayor Adams has also submitted an emergency aid request to New York State for immediate help to shelter arriving newcomers and Governor Hochul has proposed funding in her budget plan.

We are grateful that Washington is beginning to realize that New York City should not have to foot this bill alone. The federal government and the state of New York must do more to help. 

Many recent refugees risked their lives to escape economic hardship and political turmoil in Venezuela and elsewhere, hoping to find safety and a better life for their families. Some are now seeking asylum. After the trauma and life changes they endured, they have many needs beyond just housing – food, health care, legal paperwork, English language education, employment opportunities, and school for their children. To achieve lasting stability, they need support in all these ways, and more. 

BronxWorks, the organization I head, is one of the many nonprofits helping to support migrants. As a settlement house, this work is in our DNA. Settlement houses were founded to support newly-arriving immigrants to adjust to life in the city. Since the beginning of this crisis, we have provided support to needy migrant families, and this past September, we rapidly set up a family sanctuary shelter to meet their specific needs. More than a dozen BronxWorks staffers worked around the clock, many on their own time over a weekend, to get our family sanctuary up and running. Within weeks, we housed 300 individuals, including 110 children, in studios with a kitchenette and shared laundry facilities. 

We’ve welcomed families like Roberto, Claudia, and their five-year-old daughter, who fled persecution in Venezuela to pursue a safer life here in the United States. Our shelter now serves 90 families.

BronxWorks staff have not let up, working hard to ensure all the needs of these families are met. We connect our newest neighbors to resources for food and health care, employment, and other services. We have helped them secure NYC-IDs so they have a form of identification, as well as access to enriching cultural and arts opportunities in their new home. As families are settling in, they are learning English, enrolling their children in school, and forming community connections.

This is what many nonprofits in New York City do. As the leader of a nonprofit in the Bronx and a board member of the Human Services Council of New York, I’ve seen what organizations across the city are doing in the face of this true emergency. We have doubled down on our efforts, just as we did during the pandemic, because it is our mission, and despite the fact that we are already stretched thin.

The unsustainable influx of newcomers to New York City is a national problem and more funding as well other housing locations around the state and elsewhere must be identified, or this current system will be unable to effectively support these families as they make the transition into their new lives. New York City didn’t create this crisis and can’t bear the burden alone. Neither can the nonprofit community.

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Eileen Torres is executive director of BronxWorks, a human service organization and settlement house based in the Bronx and founded in 1972. On Twitter @BronxWorks.

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The Mayor Must Finally Improve City Government Before Valued Nonprofit Service Providers are Lost


Payments to nonprofit providers (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


Nonprofits that provide essential city services are in crisis. New York City government’s failure to pay nonprofits on time for the vital work they are doing for the city is jeopardizing the existence of these critical organizations that New Yorkers – especially the poorest and most vulnerable – rely upon. 

In the past two weeks there has been reporting that two venerable nonprofits — GEMS and Sheltering Arms -- are in danger of closing because of delayed city payments. This is devastating news for New Yorkers.

Before GEMS’ founding, children as young as 11 years old – overwhelmingly low-income girls of color – who were the victims of repeated rapes as part of the commercial sex industry were sometimes being arrested and charged with prostitution. GEMS fights to empower girls and women ages 12 to 24 who have survived commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking to escape these circumstances and reach their full potential.

Sheltering Arms Children and Family Services operates much-needed youth homeless shelters, foster care, mental health treatment, and housing and educational programs throughout New York City.

Unfortunately, the fate of these two organizations is emblematic of a larger trend caused by the city’s failure to timely pay nonprofits that provide essential services on behalf of the city. A 2021 report by the city’s Human Services Recovery Task Force found that more than 1,800 nonprofits were in danger of closing, with revenues down an average of $9.1 million.

Much of this is a direct result of the city’s failure to pay contracts in a timely manner.

Before a contract can be paid, it must be registered.  And the City does not do a good job of registering contracts in a timely manner. According to the City Comptroller’s office, in Fiscal Year 2021, for over 16% of all contracts it took the city over a year from start date to presentation to the Comptroller for registration. Another 27% took at least half a year. The numbers are even worse for human services contracts, where over 21% take more than a year and an additional 30.5% take more than half a year.

Not only does failure to register prevent payment, but registration is also important because it affects the rights of the nonprofit against city government. Without registration, there is no enforceable contract and so no right to sue for breach of contract if payments are never made or unreasonably late.

The problem of delayed payments is on the radar of both Mayor Adams and Comptroller Lander. Even before taking office, they created, in December 2021, a Joint Task Force to Get Nonprofits Paid on Time. In February 2022, the Joint Task Force released 19 recommendations. One recommendation was to put time limits on the various steps needed to approve contracts. Unfortunately, while these proposals came out a full year ago, many have not been implemented, including that timing one.

There may be some help on the way. There is a bill in the City Council (Intro. 511) now in committee that would legislate time limits on agencies for processing contracts. Specifically, the bill would require the Procurement Policy Board (“PPB”) to establish (1) The time limits within which the contracting agency must complete each step of the procurement process; and (2) The time limits within which each mayoral agency charged with oversight of the contracting agency must complete its oversight review of the procurement contract.

While this legislation is a helpful start, without some changes it may not have sufficient impact. To begin with, the legislation does not have hard deadlines for the PPB to do its work -- the Task Force to Get Nonprofits Paid on Time called for these same deadlines over a year ago and nothing has happened yet. Also, the bill sets no penalties if the newly-created deadlines are missed. As a result, the deadlines, even once they are set, will be difficult if not impossible to enforce.  

With or without legislation, any real change will require mayoral buy-in.

We served for years as Commissioner (Peters) and First Deputy Commissioner (Brovner) of the city's Department of Investigation (DOI). It gave us a deep understanding of the inner functioning of the agencies now contracting with nonprofits to provide services, and one thing is clear: Without an increase in both staffing and technology infrastructure, it is extremely unlikely that these city agencies will meet deadlines no matter what strictures are imposed.

There are devastating consequences to good nonprofits going out of business. Not only do vulnerable New Yorkers lose the services that they are entitled to, but dysfunctional and sometimes corrupt nonprofits move in to take the place of the good ones that went under. We saw this over and over again both while prosecuting charities fraud at the New York State Attorney General’s Office and again at DOI while serving as the Inspector General for city agencies that repeatedly entered into contracts with questionable nonprofits when they couldn’t find anyone else willing to contract with the city.  

We've seen the problem of delayed city payments up close as private attorneys as well. We have represented several entities that provide vital services on behalf of the city and have seen delays -- often of years -- in getting the city to pay for these services. This can pose a real threat to the providers' ability to stay in business and can lead to the untenable choice of taking out expensive loans or simply getting out of the business of serving the city and its residents.

New York City needs to start paying its bills on time, and it needs to do that now, before more essential nonprofits go under and vulnerable New Yorkers suffer needlessly.

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Lesley Brovner and Mark Peters are founding partners of Peters Brovner LLP, a boutique law firm in New York City.

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