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A Campaign Finance Reform Plan That Might Actually Work
Rep. John Sarbanes. (Fort George G. Meade / (CC BY 2.0))
By early July, Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) had quietly garnered 160 co-sponsors and the support of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for a bill that would counter corporate money with public funds.
A companion bill in the Senate introduced by Dick Durbin (D–Ill.) has 19 co-sponsors.
Jon Schwarz at The Intercept says the Sarbanes bill has three main parts:
• Everyone gets $25 to donate to candidates
All voters receive $25 per year to give to political campaigns, provided in the form of a refundable tax credit equal to half of donations up to $50. (For instance, if you donate $30 to a candidate, you get $15 of that back; to get the full $25 you have to donate $50.)
• 6 to 1 matching funds (at least) for small donors
Donations up to $150 to qualifying House and Senate candidates are matched 6 to 1 with public money. In other words, if your next door neighbor is running for Congress and you give her $50, she’ll get another $300, making $350 total.
And donations are matched 9 to 1 for candidates who completely renounce big money and take only donations of $150 or less. So if your neighbor is willing to do that, your $50 donation would turn into $500 total for her. (Moreover, if you use your $25 tax credit, that $500 she received would only cost you $25 total.)
•
Candidates would be eligible for enhanced matching funds in the last 60 days before an election, with incentives so they would only access the funds if it’s a particularly high-cost race.
—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
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Source: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/a_campaign_finance_reform_plan_that_might_actually_work_20150720/
