December 15, 1996
Campaign Finance Reform- Some Modest Proposals
by Professor James Fay
Can anything be done about the problem of money in politics? Although massive revamping of election finance is highly unlikely because of restrictive decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, significant improvements can be made.
I suggest several voluntary incremental improvements which could reduce political candidate's need for campaign money (thereby lowering the direct cost of campaigns) and assist candidates in collecting small contributions from a broad range of citizens.
First, give candidates for Congress one page each in the State Ballot Pamphlet to explain themselves, their issues, and their differences with their opponents. The State of Oregon has used this system for years. Each Congressional candidate pays Oregon $1,000 for a half page in the State Voters' Pamphlet, which is sent to every household in the state with a registered voter. The Voters' Pamphlet is one political mailing that almost every voter keeps and looks at before voting. This reform might be worth $70,000 to a Congressional candidate.
Second, most voters get the bulk of their campaign information from TV. This fall KRON-TV gave all Bay Area Congressional candidates five free minutes during prime time to speak directly to the voters. Would it be too much to ask the other broadcast and cable stations to do the same? Even a one-minute time slot lets a candidate take stands on a range of issues. This reform would be a worth at least $50,000.
Third, if TV stations can give free time to candidates, why couldn't some of the local and regional public-spirited newspapers also offer federal candidates a quarter page of free ad space two or three times during the last three weeks of the campaign . Here again candidates wouldn't have to spend another $10,000.
Fourth, democracy needs more debates and candidate forums. As a candidate, I was surprised how few community groups and media outlets are willing to sponsor such events. In my Congressional race not one broadcast TV station, not one newspaper, and only one Chamber of Commerce offered a public forum for Congressional candidates to come together to air their differences. Why should most of the burden to arrange such forums be placed on the League of Women Voters? Why not have a variety of media, business, religious, academic, and civic groups host such events. The added visibility from such forums/debates would enable candidates to communicate their views. Again, candidates would not have to spend another $20,000 to get their message out.
Finally we also need to make it easier for average citizens to make campaign contributions. Currently less than one percent of the electorate contributes to campaigns. National and state parties should set up 800 or 900 phone numbers that average citizens could call to donate money by credit card. Web pages could also be used for this purpose. Many people would like to help candidates, but they don't know how to do it. Let's make it as easy to contribute as it is to vote. Local newspapers and electronic media outlets could assist candidate fundraising by occasionally publicizing these 800 numbers and Web sites and encouraging citizens to help out their favorite candidates.
Would these reforms transform election finance? Would they resolve the problem of millionaire candidates, or PACs, or huge independent-spending campaigns by private groups? No. But they would help inject more grassroots money into the campaign process and reduce the candidate's need to raise the $300,000 (50 cents per citizen) required for a bare-bones Congressional campaign.
Professor James Fay
Professor Fay is Chairman of the Political Science Department at California State University, Hayward. He was the Republican candidate for Congress in the 13th Congressional District.