By Joseph T. Burns
May 28, 2025, 5:50 PM

While most of the media attention surrounding New York State’s recently adopted state budget focused on provisions like the school cellphone ban and the child tax credit, noteworthy changes were also made to the state’s public campaign finance program.  These changes, though less publicized, are likely to have a tremendous impact on political campaigning across the state in the years to come, particularly ahead of the 2026 elections. 

New York State’s public campaign finance program is a relatively new part of the Empire State’s electoral process and, so far, has only been used in one election cycle, the 2024 cycle.  The program became law in 2020 when it was inserted into the state budget at the last minute.  Its language mirrored the language that had been adopted in 2019 by a state commission created by the then Governor, Andrew Cuomo, and tasked with developing a public campaign finance program for the state.  In early 2020, a court ruled that the work of that commission and the public finance program adopted by that commission violated the state constitution.  But the powers that be in Albany did an end-run around that court decision by simply adopting the public campaign finance program through the 2020 budget.

The 2024 state legislative races were the public campaign finance program’s maiden voyage.  Candidates of both major parties from all regions of the state participated in the program.  In 2026, for the first time, candidates for Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller will be eligible to participate in the public campaign finance program; candidates for New York State’s 213 state legislative seats will again have the opportunity to participate in the program.

Recent changes made to the program are striking.  First, for example, contributions to participating candidates over $250 and up to $1,050 will now have the first $250 matched by the public campaign finance program.  Under the system that was originally adopted in 2020 and used in the 2024 state legislative races, no part of a contribution over $250 was matchable by the state program.  Secondly, candidates participating in the program will now be allowed to keep up to $50,000 of public campaign finance money in their campaign account.  Under the old rules, leftover public funds had to be returned to the state by the candidate.

Critics widely view the recent changes to the program as a tremendous political benefit to incumbent state officeholders. Republicans continue to maintain their steadfast philosophical opposition to New York’s program as well as to the changes made to it through the state budget.  But the amendments to the program also have their critics on the political left.  Traditional progressive backers of the program called on the state legislature to leave the program as it is and not make changes to it through the state budget process.  Obviously, their pleas fell on deaf ears.

In less than a year, candidates for statewide office and the state legislature will be competing for their party’s backing at a state convention or petitioning their way onto New York’s 2026 primary election ballot.  While we may not know exactly how the recently adopted changes to the public campaign finance program will impact these races, any observer of Empire State politics will tell you that they will play a role in how the rough-and-tumble game of politics is played in New York.