Campaign Finance Reform

by: Robin Cravey

Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 05:02 PM CST

Weird campaign finance

Filing my first campaign finance report is a little weird, since I have what seems to me to be a lot of money to report. It's even more weird, since I favor public financing of election campaigns. And it's yet more weird because it's so hard to figure out the campaign finance laws.

I'm running a grassroots campaign, and I've been really overwhelmed by the many friends and even strangers who have been willing to contribute $10, $100, or even $300 to my campaign. It's an expression of trust that I take very seriously. I'm determined to use that money to deliver a clear message of positive change to the city.

I've always believed that public financing of election campaigns is the way to improve the integrity of politics. It's not that money corrupts all politicians: it just corrupts those subject to temptation, or those without well-developed ethical judgment. Also, it creates the appearance of corruption, which reduces citizens' faith in democracy. Ronnie Earle talked about that just the other night. I was at the Travis County Democratic Party dinner, and Ronnie was giving a valedictory address on his years as district attorney. During that time, he has prosecuted a lot of politicians for public corruption. The best antidote for public corruption, Ronnie declared, is public financing of campaigns.

An Austin politician is subject to a bewildering thicket of campaign regulations. I'm not even going to talk about state law, which is true to our wild west traditions. Just in Austin we have an ordinance and two charter amendments. I probably don't need to point out that these provisions contradict each other. What may surprise the average citizen is that the city administration refuses to give candidates any guidance about how to follow them. Their guidance is: hire a lawyer.

Here are a few things you might want to know about campaign finance. There is no limit on the amount of money a candidate can raise or spend, but there is a limit on the amount an individual can give. A person can donate only a total of $300 to a council campaign. (That used to be $100, but it was raised.) A married couple writing from a joint account can give $600. Donors can give more if there's a runoff. There are also limits on out-of-town donors and small-donor political committees.

Political action committees in Austin can also operate according to wild west traditions. There's no limit on how much they can spend or how much a donor can give them. A "bundler" can give unlimited "bundled" contributions from other donors.

The one step toward public financing in all this is the Austin Fair Campaign Contract, which I signed back in early December. Under the contract, my campaign can spend no more than $75,000 for the May 10 general election. In exchange for observing this limit, I will be eligible to receive public funding for a runoff campaign, if I have one.

Wait, though. Remember the first paragraph, where I wrote that I would spend at least $75,000 for the general election? How can I spend more, if the Contract limits me to $75,000? Here's how. If any other candidate in my race fails to sign the contract, then I don't have to stick to the spending limit past the March filing deadline, and I still get to receive public financing for the runoff. This provision was placed in the law to prevent the people who agree to play on an even field from suffering for it.

So far as I know, at least one of my opponents, Cid Galindo, has let the 30-day deadline expire without signing the Fair Campaign Contract. He offers the rationalization that he doesn't want to use 'public funds' for the campaign. This is questionable. The fair campaign fund is funded not by taxes, but by fees paid to the city by lobbyists and candidates. What some candidates want to do is turn this into a money race.

Making sense

Oh, is this getting confusing? Well, maybe it's time for some more campaign finance reform! If elected to the council, I'm going to work toward public financing of council campaigns. At the outset, I'll propose reforms to make some sense out of the conflicting mess of laws we have now.