Washblog

Tireless Executive Director Craig Salins (above, left) has crisscrossed the state for several years, building grassroots support for public campaigns  while lobbying legislators in Olympia -along with lawyer & policy wonk - er, Chair - John King, who has forgotten more than I'll ever learn about arcane state legislative maneuverings.

The volume of Craig's correspondence is legendary; his computer keyboard and cellphone have become a part of his body.

Board President Marcee Stone is another advocate with almost supernatural tactical and diplomatic skills.

I do the website, photos, displays, and stuff.

Above are the folks most responsible for enacting this public campaigns bill: Rep. Sam Hunt; Marcee Stone; Craig Salins; Senator Rosa Franklin; Senator Joe McDermott; Rep. Mark Miloscia. Obviously the former governors approve.

Mark Miloscia and Joe McDermott (MY Senator)  are special heroes to me. Here is my story from last winter, reporting a rally and testimony from Rep. Miloscia and others to the Committe on State Government:
Backbone: Guest of Honor at Olympia Clean Elections rally
And WPC's lardmark Town Hall Forum:
2007 own Hall Clean Elections Forum
By the way, we call them "Voter-Owned Campaigns" now. It's more accurate and less likely to offend legislators.  Get that? Voter-Owned Campaigns.

Statement from Craig Salins, 3-17-2008:

We applaud Governor Gregoire's signature today, enacting into law the Local Option bill recently approved by the Legislature, allowing local choice over whether public funds can be used for campaigns for local office.

This law restores the opportunity for cities, towns and counties to once again exercise their choice - at the option of local voters - to create programs offering public financing for campaigns for local office.  We have long believed that decision should be left up to local public officials and the voters they represent, rather than legislators in Olympia deciding:  "No, you can't."

...in a few areas, campaigns have become so expensive that only wealthy candidates - or
persons with wealthy backing - can afford to run for office.  In effect, special interests with mountains of cash decide the outcome of elections by choosing certain candidates to support, well before the voters even see a ballot.  

This broken campaign system is not the democracy we've bargained for nor learned about in school.  Instead of one-person, one-vote, it has become one-dollar, one-vote.  It allows undue campaign influence by special interests seeking favors with money to burn. It is time to change the system, in localities where the voters want to reclaim their voice.  Now, under the permission granted by the Local Choice, Local Option law, they can.

Under a program of Voter-Owned Elections, public financing levels the financial playing field and ends the financial arms race that we see too often in today's campaigns.  Anyone who demonstrates support from a minimum number of voters in their district can qualify for public funds to run a primary campaign.   In exchange, they agree to campaign spending ceilings, running their campaign only on the public funds provided, accepting no private funds.  

This system works well to elect legislators in Maine and Arizona, supreme court juges in North Carolina, Corporations Commissioners in New Mexico and city council members in Portland, Oregon.  New Jersey, Wisconsin, Connecticut and other states have followed suit.  The programs - called Clean Elections in Maine and Voter-Owned Elections in Portland - are popular with voters, candidates and incumbents.   They are nonpartisan in design and result.  They are affordable to the public, and they stop the spiraling costs of campaigns.  They favor neither incumbents nor challengers.  Instead, public financing means election outcomes are determined by issues and voters, not by who can raise the most money.

Washington Public Campaigns looks forward to assisting any local city or town in the design of a voter-owned, publicly-financed campaigns program.

The very same morning, public campaigns advocates presented testimony to the Seattle City Council, which is VERY interested in becoming one of the first to take advantage of this new law. I heard there were no opponents making themselves heard.

Spokane and Pullman, among other towns, are also interested in doing so.