NUMB:
971733
VERS:
SUBSTITUTE 1
REF:
XXBY:
ALD. RICHARDS
TITL:
Substitute resolution seeking introduction and passage of state legislation regarding campaign finance reform.
ANLS:
-ANALYSIS-
This resolution seeks introduction and passage of state legislation to replace the current method of funding legislative campaigns with a combination of voluntary contributions and public clean money financing which will give all candidates the real possibility of freeing themselves from reliance on private interest funding.
BODY:
Whereas, The current system of privately financed campaigns for election to statewide and legislative offices undermines democracy in Wisconsin in the following principal ways:
1. It violates the democratic principle of "one person, one vote" and diminishes the meaning of the right to vote by allowing large contributions to have a deleterious influence on the political process;
2. It violates the free speech rights of all citizens to equal and meaningful participation in the democratic process, and especially of non-wealth voters and candidates whose voices are drowned out by those who can afford to monopolize the arena of paid political communications;
3. It undermines the First Amendment right of voters to hear all candidates' speech, as well as the core First Amendment value of open and robust debate in the political process; and
Whereas, Voter cynicism is at an all-time high, with the Governor's Blue-Ribbon Commission on Campaign Finance Reform finding 84% of Wisconsinites supporting "sweeping and fundamental" reform, and 68% of Americans in a national poll favoring replacing private special interest contributions with a clean money system; and
Whereas, The cost of campaigns is skyrocketing, with spending for legislative races quadrupling since 1980, and as much as 90% of candidate money in some state legislative campaigns coming from out-of-district; and
Whereas, The lion's share of contributions co...
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