VALHALLA, N.Y. (AP) — A New York commission has started crafting specifics of a plan to allow candidates to finance campaigns with public dollars.
In a meeting at Westchester Community College on Monday, the Public Campaign Financing and Election Commission started hashing out details such as how many small-dollar contributions candidates would need to qualify for matching funds.
The system will provide up to $100 million in public financing to candidates who get enough small private donations. The idea is to reduce the power of deep-pocketed donors and corporations whose contributions can dwarf those of individual voters.
The commission has until Dec. 1 to announce rules that will become law unless lawmakers hold a rare end-of-year special session to reject them.
It's unclear when the program would launch, or how it will be implemented.
