N.Y. Election Law § 14-203: Eligibility

§ 14-203. Eligibility. 1. Terms and conditions. To be eligible for

public matching funds under this title, a candidate must:

(a) be a candidate in a covered election;

(b) meet all the requirements of law to have their name on the ballot,

subject to the requirements of subdivision three of section 1-104 and

subdivision one of section 6-142 of this chapter;

(c) in the case of a covered general or special election, be opposed

by another candidate on the ballot who is not a write-in candidate;

(d) submit a certification in the form of an affidavit, in such form

as may be prescribed by the PCFB, that sets forth their acceptance of

and agreement to comply with the terms and conditions for the provision

of such funds in each covered election and such certification shall be

submitted at least four months before a primary election, or in the case

of a substitution, no later than one week after a certificate of

substitution is filed for the designation or nomination of such

candidate, and on the last day in which a certification of nomination is

filed in a special election pursuant to a schedule promulgated by the

PCFB;

(e) be certified as a participating candidate by the PCFB;

(f) not make, and not have made, expenditures from or use their

personal funds or property or the personal funds or property jointly

held with their spouse, or unemancipated children in connection with

their nomination for election or election to a covered office, but may

make a contribution to their authorized committee in an amount that does

not exceed three times the applicable contribution limit from an

individual contributor to candidates for the office that such candidate

is seeking;

(g) meet the threshold for eligibility set forth in subdivision two of

this section;

(g-1) not owe any payments, repayments, or civil penalties pursuant to

this title or any regulations promulgated thereunder, or any similar

payments, repayments, or civil penalties under any local public campaign

finance program within the previous ten years;

(h) continue to abide by all requirements during the post-election

period; and

(i) not have accepted contributions in amounts exceeding the

contribution limits set forth for candidates in paragraphs a and b of

subdivision one of section 14-114 of this article during the election

cycle for which the candidate seeks certification;

(i) Provided however, that, if a candidate accepted contributions

exceeding such limits, such acceptance shall not prevent the candidate

from being certified by the PCFB if the candidate in a reasonable time,

as determined by rule, pays to the fund or returns to the contributor

the portion of any contribution that exceeded the applicable

contribution limit.

(ii) If the candidate is unable to return such funds in a reasonable

time, as determined by rule, because they have already been spent,

acceptance of contributions exceeding the limits shall not prevent the

candidate from being certified by the PCFB if the candidate submits an

affidavit agreeing to pay to the fund all portions of any contributions

that exceeded the limit no later than thirty days before the general

election. If a candidate provides the PCFB with such an affidavit, any

disbursement of public funds to the candidate shall be reduced by no

more than twenty-five percent until the total amount owed by the

candidate is repaid.

(iii) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to require a

candidate who retains funds raised during any previous election cycle to

forfeit such funds. Funds raised during a previous election cycle may be

retained and used by the candidate for the candidate's campaign in the

next election cycle but funds shall not qualify for satisfying the

threshold for participating in the public campaign finance program

established in this title nor shall they be eligible to be matched. The

PCFB shall adopt regulations to ensure that contributions that would

satisfy the applicable contribution limits authorized in this title

shall be transferred into the appropriate campaign account.

(iv) Contributions received and expenditures made by the candidate or

an authorized committee of the candidate prior to the effective date of

this title shall not constitute a violation of this title. Nothing in

this recommendation shall be construed to limit, in any way, any

candidate or public official from expending any portion of pre-existing

campaign funds for any lawful purpose other than those related to their

campaign.

(v) A candidate who has raised matchable contributions but, in the

case of a covered primary, general or special election, is not opposed

by another candidate on the ballot who is not a write-in candidate, or

who chooses not to accept matchable funds, may retain such contributions

and apply them in accord with this title to the candidate's next

campaign, should there be one, in the next election cycle.

(vi) The total amount of public matching funds available to a

participating candidate and their authorized committee for a covered

general election pursuant to subdivision two of section 14-204 of this

title shall be reduced by any unexpended public matching funds received

by such candidate and their authorized committee for a covered primary

election.

2. Threshold for eligibility. (a) The threshold for eligibility for

public funding for participating candidates shall be in the case of:

(i) governor and lieutenant governor (combined), not less than five

hundred thousand dollars in contributions including at least five

thousand matchable contributions shall be counted toward this qualifying

threshold;

(ii) attorney general and comptroller, not less than one hundred

thousand dollars in contributions including at least one thousand

matchable contributions shall be counted toward this qualifying

threshold;

(iii) state senator, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (c) of

this subdivision, not less than twelve thousand dollars in contributions

including at least one hundred fifty matchable contributions shall be

counted toward this qualifying threshold; and

(iv) member of the assembly, except as otherwise provided in paragraph

(c) of this subdivision, not less than six thousand dollars in

contributions including at least seventy-five matchable contributions

shall be counted toward this qualifying threshold.

(b) For purposes of achieving the monetary thresholds and the

contributor thresholds in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the first

two hundred fifty dollars of any contribution of more than two hundred

fifty dollars to a candidate or a candidate's committee is deemed to be

a matchable contribution and shall count toward satisfying such

thresholds.

(b-1) The first two hundred fifty dollars of any contribution or

contributions totaling up to a maximum of one thousand fifty dollars in

the aggregate to a candidate or candidate's committee shall be

considered a matchable contribution provided that such contribution is

otherwise determined to be valid for public matching funds by the PCFB;

provided, however, that only the portion of any such contribution which

is in excess of two hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate shall not be

deemed matchable; and provided further, that any contributions totaling

over one thousand fifty dollars in the aggregate shall not be matchable

in any amount.

(c) With respect to the minimum dollar threshold for participating

candidates for state senate and state assembly, in such districts where

average median income ("AMI") is below the AMI as determined by the

United States Census Bureau three years before such election for which

public funds are sought, such minimum dollar threshold for eligibility

shall be reduced by one-third. The PCFB shall make public which

districts are subject to such reduction no later than two years before

the first primary election for which funding is sought.

(d) Any participating candidate meeting the threshold for eligibility

in a primary election for one of the foregoing offices shall be applied

to satisfy the threshold for eligibility for such office in any other

subsequent election held in the same calendar year. Any participating

candidate who is nominated in a primary election and has participated in

the public financing program set forth in this title, shall not be

required to participate in the public financing program for the general

election for such office should they choose to run in the general

election.