House Bill No. 7205 establishes a pilot program for the public financing of municipal chief executive officer campaigns in certain distressed municipalities for the 2027 municipal election. The bill defines "distressed municipality" in accordance with existing law and specifies that the program will apply to municipalities with populations of less than 25,000. Candidates who choose to participate in the program must agree to limit their campaign fundraising and expenditures. Notably, public financing provided under this program will not be classified as public funds for the purposes of existing campaign finance regulations. Candidates opting out of the program will still be subject to the standard provisions of campaign finance law.

The bill mandates the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) to implement this program, which will incur costs estimated at $306,894 in FY 26 and $296,894 in FY 27, along with fringe benefits of approximately $120,866 for both fiscal years. The SEEC will need to hire four positions to manage the program, including an Elections Officer and a Staff Attorney. Additionally, participating municipalities may face costs related to funding grants and establishing oversight boards, with the total expenses varying based on the number of municipalities involved and the structure of their respective programs. The bill also references a previous municipal campaign finance pilot program conducted in New Haven in 2007, which provides context for the current initiative.