Myrie Wants ‘Big Money Kept out of Elections,’ Pushes for Public Financing Reforms

State Senator Zellnor Myrie, colleagues and advocacy groups including The Working Families Party and Make the Road New York, held a hearing on Wednesday to demand that public financing for New York State is included and properly funded in the state budget. 

Currently, New York’s contribution limits lag behind much of the country, said Myrie. An individual can give up to $69,700 to statewide candidates, $19,300 to State Senate candidates and $9,400 to Assembly candidates. This allows big money special interests to wield undue influence on elections, the senator said.

“We need big money out and small donors in,” said Myrie, who chairs the Senate’s elections committee. “New York has the highest contribution limits in the nation. In one election cycle, you can give more to my Senate campaign than the mayor, a member of Congress and a U.S. senator combined. This is absurd and unacceptable. There is no way to strike at the root of our state’s problems and inequities without publicly financed elections.”

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