ALBANY - Senate Republican Campaign Committee Chair George Borrello, New York Republican Chairman Ed Cox, and Republican Assembly Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Hawley are calling out Senate Democrats and their allies on the Public Campaign Finance Board (PCFB) for rigging campaign finance rules to shield their candidates from accountability. At a recent PCFB meeting, the Democratic majority rammed through a resolution retroactively altering regulations to permit transfers of funds to political parties, a move clearly designed to cover up violations and protect their political operations.

“This is an egregious abuse of the Public Campaign Finance system designed to ensure fair elections, not serve as a slush fund for the Senate Democrats’ political machine,” said Senator Borrello. “The resolution adopted by the PCFB rewrites the rules in the middle of the game, providing cover for multiple Senate Democrats who blatantly abused the program by transferring funds to their party committee instead of returning these funds to the state.”

“Albany Democrats are proving once again that corruption is the cornerstone of their political operation,” said New York Republican Party Chair Ed Cox. “This is yet another disgraceful example of Albany Democrats weaponizing our institutions for their own gain, and Governor Hochul’s silence on this matter is deafening.”

“It took Senate Majority members exactly one election cycle to corrupt New York’s public campaign financing system,” Republican Assembly Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Hawley said. “In a complete break from every other conference and with a significant change mid-game, Democrats funneled $2.1 million from individual accounts into their statewide campaign committee. The recent resolution passed by their Democratic co-conspirators on the PCFB – which retroactively allows this type of transfer – amounts to an admission of guilt. From the outset, Republicans opposed a statewide public campaign system in part because it exposes taxpayer dollars to possible corruption. Liberals in the Senate just validated our concerns and need to be held accountable.”

The transfers in question, totaling over $2.1 million, were made by Democratic candidates Jeremy Cooney ($423,183), Michelle Hinchey ($299,887), James Skoufis ($265,756), Patricia Fahy ($337,760), Elijah Reichlin-Melnick ($219,773), and others. While the candidates may claim they did not use their public funds for these transactions, money is fungible. Therefore, each transfer constitutes a clear violation of the PCFB’s regulations. The public matching funds and private contributions are commingled. And the only reason they had leftover private contributions to transfer to their party was because they used New York taxpayer dollars to fund their campaigns.

“While every other campaign committee complied with the rules as they were written, the Senate Democrats were caught red-handed funneling money to enrich their campaign arm. Instead of facing the consequences, they changed the rules to suit their needs,” continued Senator Borrello. “This is Albany corruption at its worst. We demand full accountability and a reversal of this shameful resolution.”