Get Herald RSSIn conjunction with local politicians and public interest groups like Common Cause Rhode Island, Brown's chapter of Democracy Matters continues to actively support the recently proposed Clean Elections Bill, a measure that promotes the public financing of political campaigns.
District 3 State Sen. Rhoda Perry P'91 sponsored the bill in the Senate, and District 3 State Rep. Edith Ajello introduced the same measure in the House. The bill is awaiting hearings in both chambers.
Clean Elections is a campaign finance reform bill that promotes government-funded campaigns instead of campaigns funded privately. Similar versions of the bill have been introduced in Arizona and Maine.
Herald Opinions Editor Te-Ping Chen '07 has been a driving force behind these efforts. Chen, an Oakland, Calif., native who worked in support of publicly financed elections in Berkeley last summer, said the movement is centered on the idea that privately funded elections distort the Democratic process.
"It is an issue of equity. Years ago, we had a poll tax for voting," Chen said. "What you see now in campaign fundraising is that it prevents a lot of people from running for office."
Because of privately funded campaigns, elected officials have become increasingly homogenous as minorities and women are underrepresented, Chen said.
Phil West, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, was contacted by Chen last February and has worked in conjunction with Democracy Matters ever since. "What typically happens now is that campaigns are largely funded by lobbyists who want something from the government," West said. "There is enormous pressure with officials to cooperate with those who give to their campaign."
A proposal for the bill - drafted by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and reworked to fit the language of Rhode Island law by West and Common Cause - received sponsorship from Perry and Ajello as a result of the combined efforts of Chen and Democracy Matters.
The bill allows those running for office to decide whether they want to fund their campaigns with private or public money. If they choose to accept public funding, candidates need to receive a certain number of $5 donations in order to prove their candidacy is legitimate and worthy of public funding.
"Currently candidates need to get signatures in order to run. This (clean elections) makes you have a higher degree of credibility," West said. "Five dollars, while it is not a lot of money, is a reasonable enough amount of money so that people wouldn't flippantly give it away."
If the Clean Elections bill was passed, a politician's decision to forgo public financing in favor of private funds might garner a negative reception from the public, West said.
Different positions require a different number of $5 donations to receive funding: fifty donations are necessary to run as a state representative, 100 as a state senator, 2,500 for governor and 1,000 for lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state or general treasurer. According to the plan, politicians who receive public funding only have a certain amount of time to fundraise for larger amounts, rather than a whole election cycle. They must still comply with rules restricting the amount one can donate.
The money given by the government to campaigns - estimated to total about $7 million, according to Ajello - would be distributed as follows: Candidates for the House of Representatives would receive between $8,000 and $12,000, prospective state senators would receive between $16,000 and $24,000, candidates for governor would receive between $1.5 and $2.25 million and other general officers would receive between $600,000 and $900,000.
According to Ajello, the Clean Elections bill benefits the public by relieving the legislature of pressure from special interest groups. In addition, politicians themselves do not have to spend as much time fundraising and campaigning.
"The thing I least like to do is raise money for my campaign," Ajello said. "I would much rather talk about problems and solutions. Time spent on fundraising could be much better spent."
Ajello also notes that many of Rhode Island's elected officials work multiple jobs and that the legislature is citizen-based, so it is even harder to fund campaigns because of time and economic restrictions.
Opponents of Clean Elections point to its socialist qualities and the tax burden it may create, according to the Providence Phoenix.
Ajello said the bill would require an extra $7 million of government revenue to finance. But for Chen, Democracy Matters and many of Rhode Island's public interest groups, the price seems well worth it.
The biggest hurdle Chen and Democracy Matters face is trying to convince legislators to pass the bill, a formidable task considering Rhode Island does not have voter initiatives. The bill essentially increases the competition for office by leveling the campaign finance playing field.
Ajello says her support for the bill is based on a "larger responsibility to look out for the good of the state and not to maintain my position in the legislature. It is about having a legislature that truly represents its constituency."
Ajello, West and Democracy Matters are looking for the reform to be passed eventually and understand it is unrealistic for the bill to pass in the next year.
"We are in the phase of reaching out to other groups. We are in the process now of building the coalition that will win this thing. We will not win in one year, we will win in a few years," West said.
In efforts to build support, Caroline Colesworthy GS has taken on the responsibility to try to get other public interest groups to support the bill. Her logic is that "any group working in the public interest for individuals will benefit by this bill passing."
After Arizona and Maine passed the similar bills, the governments have become increasingly diverse and more representative of the population, according to the Road to Victory Report, an executive summary report distributed by the Clean Elections Institute.
Arizona elected its first publicly financed governor along with 38 other publicly funded officials in 2002.
