Today was quite the day in Congress for campaign finance.
First, the House Administration Committee advanced a program for taxpayer financing of congressional races:
“… The [committee] voted to divert hundreds of millions, even billions, of taxpayer dollars into the campaign coffers of fringe candidates, incumbents, and candidates favored by well-organized interest groups able to provide the necessary contributions to qualify for public funding,” said CCP President Sean Parnell. “These are not just the conclusions of Republicans opposing the bill, but of 2 Democratic members of the committee including an ardent supporter of the concept of taxpayer funding for political campaigns.”
The so-called Fair Elections Now Act is not expected to receive a vote on the House floor anytime soon.
Then, the Senate voted again on the DISCLOSE Act this afternoon:
“The DISCLOSE Act was not a serious attempt at campaign finance reform,” said Center for Competitive Politics Chairman Bradley A. Smith, a former Federal Election Commission Chairman. “This bill was written behind closed doors by the majority party to benefit incumbents. Democratic leaders made no serious attempt to pass a bipartisan bill, writing a bill that silences business groups while leaving labor unions largely unfettered.”
CCP will have more analysis of these developments in the days ahead.
