There is a Way to Reform Campaign Finance
July 16, 2000
The ACLU has studied and internally debated the controversial
issue of campaign finance reform probably more than any other single
issue since Watergate. Current concern over campaign practices and spending
at the federal and state levels of government has challenged the ACLU
once again.
The ACLU of Wisconsin (ACLU/WI) Board of Directors at two 1997 meetings
discussed the issue and the current relevancy of the ACLU position. ACLU/WI
agrees that the national policy is fundamentally sound.
The ACLU/WI position could have a different emphasis compared with national
ACLU policy. For example, some national concerns, such as "soft money,"
are not issues in Wisconsin campaigns. Other national topics, such as
allocating free TV time, are not susceptible to Wisconsin state regulation.
For the ACLU of Wisconsin, the key to reform is meaningful, realistic
and non-coercive public financing:
- The Wisconsin Election Campaign Fund is underfunded, in large part
because the number of tax filers taking advantage of the state income
tax form checkoff has declined from 19% to 8%.
- The amount of the grants offered to Wisconsin state candidates is
ridiculously low, in large part because the grants are no longer adjusted
for inflation.
In Wisconsin public financing is a joke. It's not surprising that fewer
and fewer candidates in competitive races take public financing.
It would cost approximately $20 million dollars to give state candidates
enough in public financing to afford them a fair opportunity of getting
their messages out. Will the incumbents in the Legislature and the Governor's
Office have the courage to make this politically difficult expenditure
by budgeting the use of general purpose revenue for the Wisconsin Election
Campaign Fund? Polling suggests that citizens are more concerned about
reducing taxes than campaign finance reform. Contact your legislator
and Governor Thompson
to express your opinion.
The ACLU of Wisconsin is participating in the current debate. We have
attended all the public hearings of the Governor's
Blue Ribbon Commission on Campaign Finance Reform. ACLU/WI Executive
Director Christopher Ahmuty testified before the Commission at its March
12, 1997, hearing in Green Bay. Click
here for his testimony. He told the Commission:
- Do not scapegoat the First Amendment.
- Fix public financing of Wisconsin campaigns.
- Specific ways to reform the current system of financing Wisconsin
campaigns.
To learn more about the national ACLU position, check out the Ira Glasser
testimony to the US Congress. The national ACLU policy is at the end of
this testimony.
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