The Comptroller’s race has the option of a pilot program for public campaign financing, under a budget deal reached earlier this year. DiNapoli has said the program is flawed, and he won’t be participating. Under the plan, the money comes from the unclaimed deposits fund that the Comptroller controls, and DiNapoli says he has some concerns with that.
“Unclaimed funds are money that’s supposed to be returned to New Yorkers who’ve lost the money,” DiNapoli says. “We have to make sure we have enough to respond to the claims that we have to process.”
His opponent, GOP nominee Bob Antonacci is planning on opting in to the pilot public campaign finance plan. DiNapoli will be in the awkward position of actually certifying the money to fund his opponent’s campaign.
But he says he won’t “play games” with handing out the money.
