The fact that you don't know is exactly what Comptroller Tom DiNapoli wants because if you knew, you would wonder what he's been doing the last 18 years.
The Comptroller is the Chief Auditor, Chief Investor, and Chief Getting-Your-Money-Back-er for the entire State. That means as auditor he can get to the bottom of why your health care, housing and utility costs keep going up; it means that as investor he is responsible for $291.4 billion of the taxpayer-funded public pension funds; it means he has the ability to get your money back – all $20 billion he's been sitting on in the Unclaimed Fund he oversees.
As the sole trustee of the third-largest public pension fund in the United States, for nearly 20 years, Comptroller DiNapoli has handed over $11 billion in fees – New Yorkers’ tax dollars – to Wall Street bankers who then underperformed their benchmark by 39%. Instead of holding them accountable, Comptroller DiNapoli increased their fees by 400%. Drew will stop lining Wall Street’s pockets and invest smarter to give billions back to working New Yorkers while earning a higher rate of return for pensioners in the process.
Read our full report on the DiNapoli Tax.
Drew will bring his personal experience taking on the housing crisis, as Chief Operating Officer and then as co-CEO of Enterprise Community Partners, where he led the largest affordable housing nonprofit in the nation to create and preserve more than 1 million affordable homes.
The Comptroller controls a $291 billion fund – and next-to-nothing is invested in solving New York’s affordable housing crisis.
Drew proposes launching the largest affordable housing fund in the United States by investing $10 billion from New York’s pension fund to build and preserve homes New Yorkers can actually afford where they live and work.
This approach will not only create a much-needed, currently nonexistent source of low-cost capital for affordable homes, helping to address the most acute challenge faced by working New Yorkers, it will also help to secure the futures of our dedicated public servants.
Right now, the Comptroller is holding $20 billion of New Yorkers’ money in the NYS Unclaimed Fund – money that’s owed to New Yorkers for things like insurance claims, expired gift certificates, uncashed checks, and closed bank accounts. Drew’s plan is simple: give it back to you. All $20 billion. It’s not the Comptroller’s money, it’s New Yorkers’. We should act like it.
When Drew is State Comptroller, there won’t be any process delays to get your money. Because there won’t be any process. He's just going to automatically send you a check for the amount owed to you. In the meantime, we launched GetYourMoneyBackNY.com to help you get what's yours.
As the candidate who has built more solar power than any other elected official in the country – putting more than $1 billion of steel in the ground to power 400,000 homes with clean energy – Drew brings deep, personal experience fighting climate change, building an industry from scratch, and democratizing access to renewable energy.
As State Comptroller, Drew proposes to completely divest from fossil fuel companies. This includes any actively and passively managed investments, including public equities, fixed income, and alternatives such as private equity. All of it.
Not only is this an urgent and necessary approach to fight climate change, but it is also financially prudent. According to Drew’s report “The Fiduciary Case for Divesting the New York State & Local Retirement System's Common Retirement Fund from Fossil Fuel Companies” had the NYS Common Retirement Fund done this 18 years ago, it would have earned a 5.4% higher rate of return. Instead, the pension fund earned worse returns for higher risk, costing taxpayers and retirees more money in the middle of an affordability crisis.
Over the last 18 years, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has flouted the clear-and-present risk that fossil fuel companies pose to the New York State Common Retirement Fund, and it has been costly. In the middle of an affordability crisis, that risk translated into observable losses that forced New Yorkers to pay more in taxes than would have been necessary had the Fund not been invested in those fossil fuel companies in the first place.
Instead of mitigating this risk through divestment, the Comptroller has taken half measures, backed by complex, opaque methodologies that lack conviction, efficacy and run counter to his fiduciary duty as “sole trustee” of the Fund.
Drew’s “FAIR” plan for Immigrants starts with divesting from Palantir.
Drew has deep personal experience fighting for our most vulnerable neighbors and their families. In 2007, in the face of powerful opposition from the Bush Administration (and some conservatives in New York), Drew fought on the frontlines to provide drivers’ licenses to undocumented New Yorkers while working as an aide in the Governor's Office the precursor to what became the “Green Light” Law in 2019.
Drew’s Fairness and Accountability for Immigrants’ Rights (FAIR) Plan will use the State Comptroller’s office to advance dignity and justice for all New Yorkers:
Drew has called for the state legislature to immediately pass the New York for All Act – as well as the MELT and RADAR acts – legislation that would prohibit New York’s state and local government agencies from colluding with ICE, disclosing sensitive information, and diverting personnel and other resources to rounding up our neighbors and endangering New Yorkers’ lives.
Stop Cooperating with ICE: Drew would audit counties, municipalities, and law enforcement agencies to prevent abuses and shine a spotlight on harmful behavior by making sure they are complying with all existing laws and using public resources effectively.
Protect Immigrant Workers from Exploitation: Over a five-year period, at least 127,000 New York workers were the victims of wage theft. The State Comptroller should protect workers’ rights, including undocumented workers most vulnerable to wage theft and exploitation. Drew will initiate an all-hands-on-deck effort to return millions of dollars recovered by the State Department of Labor, currently sitting in the Comptroller’s Unclaimed Funds account, to victimized workers.
Get Nonprofits Paid on Time: Persistent delays in payments from state government agencies have undermined the ability of the nonprofit sector to serve vulnerable immigrant communities. The State Comptroller should make certain that nonprofits serving immigrants are financially supported and not delayed by slow state payments. (Drew saw this firsthand as a board member of Union Settlement, which serves 15,000 vulnerable New Yorkers in East Harlem.)
Advance Economic Equity and Opportunity for Immigrant Businesses: Currently, firms owned by immigrants are less likely to be fully approved on their credit and loan applications. Drew will make sure that the State Comptroller’s office invests pension dollars responsibly in lenders and credit unions that back immigrant-owned small businesses.
Use The Audit Power To Defend Consumers: State and local government agencies contract with or use invasive technology powered by companies like Clearview AI and in the past with companies like Palantir Technologies. The Comptroller has broad authority to audit state agencies, public authorities, and government contractors. Drew will direct those powers to ensure that New York public dollars are not subsidizing abusive corporate behavior. Drew will:
- Auditing state and local contracts involving surveillance technologies (including facial recognition), data brokers, and algorithmic decision-making systems to assess privacy risks, discriminatory impacts, and cost effectiveness.
- Recommending termination or restructuring of contracts where vendors engage in predatory pricing, excessive data extraction, or misuse of personal information.
- Publishing plain-language audit findings so New Yorkers can see how their data and money are being used.
Use Pension Fund Power to Protect Consumers: As sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, the Comptroller wields one of the most powerful tools for corporate accountability in the country. Drew will:
- Use shareholder engagement, proxy voting, and shareholder resolutions to pressure companies to limit abusive surveillance practices, disclose data-monetization strategies, and curb exploitative pricing schemes.
- Demand transparency from portfolio companies like Uber and Lyft about algorithmic pricing, dynamic pricing, and the use of consumer data to maximize profits at the expense of fairness.
- Launch a coordinated multi-state pension fund effort, inclusive of community and movement organizations, that identifies corporations engaged or complicit in unauthorized surveillance technology, data extraction and abusive algorithmic practices that pose a risk to the long-term financial security of the pension fund
Expose Surveillance Pricing and Algorithmic Exploitation: Increasingly, companies use personal data and opaque algorithms to charge different people different prices for the same goods and services—often targeting lower-income consumers. Drew will:
- Commission audits and research reports on the use of surveillance pricing by companies receiving public funds or held in the pension portfolio.
- Elevate findings to lawmakers, regulators, and the public to build momentum for stronger consumer protection laws.
- Ensure that state investments do not reward companies whose business models rely on hidden discrimination or digital price manipulation.
Protect Privacy in Public Finance: New York must not become a testing ground for unaccountable surveillance. Drew will:
- Advocate for procurement best practices that minimize data collection, prohibit secondary data sales, and require strong cybersecurity protections.
- Use the Comptroller’s bully pulpit to make privacy and consumer protection central to debates about public spending and investment.