N.Y. Elec. Law § 14-200
Legislative findings and intent
Redline — January 1, 2015 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2023
As of January 1, 2015
* § 14-200. Definitions. For the purposes of this title, the following\nterms shall have the following meanings:\n 1. The term "authorized committee" shall mean the single committee\ndesignated by a candidate pursuant to section 14-201 of this title to\nreceive contributions and make expenditures in support of the\ncandidate's campaign.\n 2. The term "board" shall mean the state board of elections.\n 3. The term "contribution" shall have the same meaning as appears in\nsubdivision nine of section 14-100 of this article.\n 4. The term "contributor" shall mean any person or entity that makes a\ncontribution.\n 5. The term "covered election" shall mean any primary or general\nelection for nomination for election, or election, to the office of\nstate comptroller.\n 6. The term "election cycle" shall mean the four year period starting\nafter the day after the last general election for candidates for\nstatewide office.\n 7. The term "expenditure" shall mean any gift, subscription, advance,\npayment, or deposit of money or anything of value, or a contract to make\nany gift, subscription, payment, or deposit of money or anything of\nvalue, made in connection with the nomination for election, or election,\nof any candidate. Expenditures made by contract are deemed made when\nsuch funds are obligated.\n 8. The term "fund" shall mean the New York state campaign finance\nfund.\n 9. The term "immediate family" shall mean a spouse, domestic partner,\nchild, sibling or parent.\n 10. The term "intermediary" shall mean an individual, corporation,\npartnership, political committee, employee organization or other entity\nwhich bundles, causes to be delivered or otherwise delivers any\ncontribution from another person or entity to a candidate or authorized\ncommittee, other than in the regular course of business as a postal,\ndelivery or messenger service. Provided, however, that an "intermediary"\nshall not include spouses, domestic partners, parents, children or\nsiblings of the person making such contribution or a staff member or\nvolunteer of the campaign identified in writing to the state board of\nelections. Here "causes to be delivered" shall include providing\npostage, envelopes or other shipping materials for the use of delivering\nthe contribution to the ultimate recipient.\n 11. The term "item with significant intrinsic and enduring value"\nshall mean any item, including tickets to an event, that are valued at\ntwenty-five dollars or more.\n 12. (a) The term "matchable contribution" shall mean a contribution,\ncontributions or a portion of a contribution or contributions for any\ncovered elections held in the same election cycle, made by a natural\nperson who is a resident in the state of New York to a participating\ncandidate, that has been reported in full to the board in accordance\nwith sections 14-102 and 14-104 of this article by the candidate's\nauthorized committee and has been contributed on or before the day of\nthe applicable election. Any contribution, contributions, or a portion\nof a contribution determined to be invalid for matching funds by the\nboard may not be treated as a matchable contribution for any purpose.\n (b) The following contributions are not matchable:\n (i) loans;\n (ii) in-kind contributions of property, goods, or services;\n (iii) contributions in the form of the purchase price paid for an item\nwith significant intrinsic and enduring value;\n (iv) transfers from a party or constituted committee;\n (v) anonymous contributions or contributions whose source is not\nitemized as required by section 14-201 of this title;\n (vi) contributions gathered during a previous election cycle;\n (vii) illegal contributions;\n (viii) contributions from persons under eighteen;\n (ix) contributions from vendors for campaigns; and\n (x) contributions from lobbyists registered pursuant to subdivision\n(a) of section one-c of the legislative law.\n 13. The term "nonparticipating candidate" shall mean a candidate for a\ncovered election who fails to file a written certification in the form\nof an affidavit under section 14-204 of this title by the applicable\ndeadline.\n 14. The term "participating candidate" shall mean any candidate for\nnomination for election, or election, to the office of state comptroller\nwho files a written certification in the form of an affidavit pursuant\nto section 14-204 of this title.\n 15. The term "post-election period" shall mean the six months\nfollowing the two thousand fourteen comptroller election when a\ncandidate is subject to an audit.\n 16. The term "qualified campaign expenditure" shall mean an\nexpenditure for which public matching funds may be used.\n 17. The term "threshold for eligibility" shall mean the amount of\nmatchable contributions that a candidate's authorized committee must\nreceive in total in order for such candidate to qualify for voluntary\npublic financing under this title.\n 18. The term "transfer" shall mean any exchange of funds between a\nparty or constituted committee and a candidate or any of his or her\nauthorized committees.\n * NB Repealed December 31, 2014\n
§ 14-200. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that\nreform of New York state's campaign finance system is crucial to\nimproving public confidence in the state's democratic processes and\ncontinuing to ensure a government that is accountable to all of the\nvoters of the state regardless of wealth or position. The legislature\nfinds that New York's current system of campaign finance, with its large\ncontributions to candidates for office and party committees, has created\nthe potential for and the appearance of corruption. The legislature\nfurther finds that, whether or not this system creates actual\ncorruption, the appearance of such corruption can give rise to a\ndistrust in government and citizen apathy that undermines the democratic\noperation of the political process.\n The legislature also finds that the high cost of running for office in\nNew York discourages qualified candidates from running for office and\ncreates an electoral system that encourages candidates to spend too much\ntime raising money rather than attending to the duties of their office,\nrepresenting the needs of their constituents, and communicating with\nvoters.\n The legislature amends this article creating a new title to this\narticle to reduce the possibility and appearance that special interests\nexercise undue influence over state officials; to increase the actual\nand apparent responsiveness of elected officials to all voters; to\nencourage qualified candidates to run for office; and to reduce the\npressure on candidates to spend large amounts of time raising large\ncontributions for their campaigns.\n The legislature also finds that the system of voluntary public\nfinancing furthers the government's interest in encouraging qualified\ncandidates to run for office. The legislature finds that the voluntary\npublic funding program will enlarge the public debate and increase\nparticipation in the democratic process. In addition, the legislature\nfinds that the voluntary expenditure limitations and matching fund\nprogram reduce the burden on candidates and officeholders to spend time\nraising money for their campaigns.\n Therefore, the legislature declares that these amendments further the\nimportant and valid government interests of reducing voter apathy,\nbuilding confidence in government, reducing the reality and appearance\nof corruption, and encouraging qualified candidates to run for office,\nwhile reducing candidates' and officeholders' fundraising burdens.\n
Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.