U.S. House: House Urged to Vote Down Effort to Repeal Presidential Public Financing System and Terminate Election Assistance Commission

Date

Today a coalition of reform groups urged the full U.S. House of Representatives to vote against legislation to repeal the presidential public financing system and terminate the Election Assistance Commission by folding its responsibilities into the horribly dysfunctional Federal Election Commission.


The legislation, H.R. 3463, is expected to be voted on by the House tomorrow.

The reform groups sending the letter include: Americans for Campaign Reform, Brennan Center for Justice, Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Democracy 21, League of Women Voters, People For the American Way, Public Campaign, Public Citizen, and U.S. PIRG.

Heading into the closing days of this Congressional session, with a number of key issues unresolved, tomorrow’s vote represents another threat to the health of our democracy and yet another distraction from the vital and unfinished business before the House.  The effort represents the third time this year that House Republican leaders have held votes on legislation to end the presidential public financing system and the second time they have held votes on terminating the Election Assistance Commission.

The full text of the letter follows below.

 Reform Groups Urge You to Vote No on H.R. 3463 This Week

 November 30, 2011

 Dear Representative,

Our organizations strongly urge you to oppose H.R. 3463, legislation introduced by Representative Greg Harper (R-Miss.) to repeal the presidential public financing system and terminate the Election Assistance Commission. The legislation is expected to be considered by the House on Thursday.

Our organizations include: Americans for Campaign Reform, Brennan Center for Justice, 
Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Democracy 21, League of Women Voters, People For the American Way, Public Campaign, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG

Dangerous campaign finance developments in the 2012 presidential campaign show just how essential it is to repair, not repeal, the presidential public financing system. In the aftermath of the destructive Citizens United decision, the financing of the 2012 presidential election is being dominated by bundlers, Super PACs, candidate-specific Super PACs, secret contributions and the like. This is the kind of campaign money that leads to scandal and corruption.

The presidential public financing system worked well for the nation for most of its existence, providing presidential candidates with the funds needed to mount viable candidacies without becoming obligated to special-interest influence money. The system became outmoded in recent years as a result of Congress failing to take any action to update the system to respond to the increased costs of running a presidential campaign.

A 2008 USA TODAY/Gallup poll on the eve of the 2008 presidential election found that over 70 percent of the American public supported the continuation of the presidential financing system, and only 20 percent favored eliminating it.

Presidential candidates are entitled to have the option of running for President on a system based on small donations and public funds as an alternative to becoming obligated and indebted to influence-seeking funders. This alternative system is the same one that President Ronald Reagan voluntarily participated in three times, including his two successful runs for President and President Bill Clinton voluntarily used twice to successfully run for President. Every president elected from 1976 to 2004 has made use of the presidential public financing system

H.R. 414 introduced this year by Representatives David Price (R-NC) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) would repair the presidential public financing system to take account of the current costs of running a presidential campaign and to increase the incentives for small donors to contribute to presidential candidates.

We strongly urge House members to reject the effort to repeal the presidential public financing system and to co-sponsor H.R. 414, the Price-Van Hollen bill.

H.R. 3463 also seeks to terminate the Election Assistance Commission and transfer some of its functions to the Federal Election Commission, a dysfunctional agency. We strongly urge you to reject this effort.

Congress should strengthen, not terminate, the EAC and ensure that the agency can perform its critical functions in data collection, research, and information sharing among elected officials at every level, the public and concerned organizations. Congress should ensure that the EAC has sufficient authority to carry out these responsibilities.

It makes no sense, furthermore, to transfer EAC functions to the FEC, which is widely recognized as an ineffectual and discredited agency. There is no basis for providing an agency that is paralyzed and incapable of carrying out its own responsibilities with a new area of additional responsibilities.

The presidential public financing system should be repaired, not repealed. The Election Administration Commission should be strengthened, not terminated.

We strongly urge you to vote no on H.R. 3463.

Americans for Campaign Reform

Brennan Center for Justice

Campaign Legal Center

Common Cause

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Democracy 21

League of Women Voters

People For the American Way

Public Campaign

Public Citizen

U.S. PIRG