STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10539
IN ASSEMBLY
June 3, 2024
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Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Magnarelli)
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to public campaign financ-
ing surpluses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 19 of section 14-200-a of the election law, as
2 added by section 4 of part ZZZ of chapter 58 of the laws of 2020, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 19. "surplus" means [those funds where the total sum of contributions
5 received and] the difference between public [matchable] matching funds
6 received by a participating candidate and [his or her] such candidate's
7 authorized committee [exceeds the total campaign expenditures of such
8 candidate and authorized committee] for all covered elections held in
9 the same calendar year or for a special election to fill a vacancy and
10 the total such candidate and such candidate's authorized committee spent
11 on qualified campaign expenditures; provided that in cases where quali-
12 fied campaign expenditures of such candidate exceed public matching
13 funds received by such candidate and such candidate's authorized commit-
14 tee for all covered elections held in the same calendar year or for a
15 special election to fill a vacancy, the surplus is zero.
16 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 14-208 of the election
17 law, as added by section 4 of part ZZZ of chapter 58 of the laws of
18 2020, is amended to read as follows:
19 (c) If [the total sum of contributions received and public matching
20 payments from the fund received by a participating candidate and his or
21 her authorized committee exceed the total campaign expenditures of such
22 candidate and authorized committee for all covered elections held in the
23 same calendar year or for a special election to fill a vacancy] unspent
24 public matching funds remain in a participating candidate's authorized
25 committee bank account at the end of an election cycle that exceed the
26 participating candidate's total qualified campaign expenditures, such
27 candidate and committee shall [use such surplus funds to reimburse the
28 fund for payments received by such authorized committee from the fund
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15842-01-4
A. 10539 2
1 during such calendar year or for such special election] pay the fund the
2 amount of such surplus. Participating candidates shall make such
3 payments not later than twenty-seven days after all liabilities for the
4 election have been paid and in any event, not later than the day on
5 which the PCFB issues its final audit report for the participating
6 candidate's authorized committee; provided, however, that all unspent
7 public campaign funds for a participating candidate shall be immediately
8 due and payable to the PCFB upon a determination by the PCFB that the
9 participant has delayed the post-election audit. A participating candi-
10 date may make post-election expenditures with public funds only for
11 routine activities involving nominal [cost] costs associated with wind-
12 ing up a campaign and responding to the post-election audit. Nothing in
13 this title shall be construed to prevent a candidate or [his or her]
14 such candidate's authorized committee from using campaign contributions
15 received from private contributors for otherwise lawful expenditures.
16 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. Effective immediately,
17 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
18 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
19 authorized to be made and completed by the public campaign finance board
20 on or before such effective date.
