Schwarzenegger Signs Public Campaign Finance Law
The Issue: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 583 into law late Tuesday night. The law is a pilot program to try out public financing in California. The only office that is now eligible for public financing is Secretary of State. The funding for public financing will be from voluntary donations that Californians can make on their state tax return.
This law is one of many reforms designed to make California less partisan and more effective. The rationale is that if candidates have the ability to be elected without having to accept money from lobbyists that they will not owe favors and will be free to vote their consciense on the issues.
Only the office of the Secretary of State will have this option due to the bill, but if it is successful, Californians can expect to see similar bills for other elective offices emerge.
Analysis: AB 583 is a step in the right direction, but is not the solution to the problem. Even if there was sweeping reform across the state and every elective office was publicly financed, politicians still would not be able to vote their conscience. The problem is not lobbyists as much as it is the political parties.
Candidates still need public support in order to get elected, and poltical parties provide that support network. Endorsements from major, popular elected officials goes a long way.
AB 583 is a good reform for California, but it won’t be the shining ray of hope everyone is looking for.
Endorsements from candidates’ parties will still help even when candidates are publicly funded, but having a funding source independent of the parties should still make a huge difference.
Currently, 93% of state races in California were won by the candidate who spent the most money, and incumbents outspend challengers by over 4-1. Essentially, incumbents rarely have to justify their actions to the voters because they almost never face seriously funded opposition.
When incumbents have to face challengers that have the same amount as money as they do, as they will with Fair Elections funding due to its matching funds, they have to take their challengers seriously and have to actually have to defend their record to the voters.
Sure, incumbency and support from their parties will still be advantages, but in Arizona and Maine, where they’ve had Fair Elections funding since 2000, incumbents face challengers much more often and challengers actually win much more often. Even when incumbents win, they’re more accountable to the voters because they don’t have to worry about future campaign funds being cut off if they don’t vote the way a lobbyist (or their party) tells them to.
For more information on AB 583 and its benefits, go to http://www.CAclean.org.
Trent Lange
President of Board of Directors
California Clean Money Campaign