Joshua Solomon reports in the Times Union that Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill to expand the eligible campaign contributions for matching public funds. New York has a new system of publicly funded campaigns beginning with the 2024 elections. The publicly financed elections are intended to give less wealthy New Yorkers and their political contributions more weight against those from donors with more disposable income. But Hochul said, “Signing this bill would effectively reduce the impact of small donors on elections,” in “direct contravention of the purpose” of the public campaign finance program. Groups supporting transparent government and public campaign finance advocates were also opposed to the legislation that would have allowed for the first $250 of any contribution to a campaign in an election cycle to be matched by state funding. So far, about 168 candidates have filed applications to take part in the public campaign finance program but Hochul is not among them. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is the only statewide candidate to enroll in the program at this time. Read more about this story in the Times Union.