Missouri needs publicly financed campaigns

Jason Holsman, 45th District

If you have followed the presidential campaigns this year, you know that the major candidates are each raising well over $100 million for their races.  That’s a lot of money that families could better use to cope with rising fuel and food prices.  Too often the influence of money overshadows the opinions of our neighbors and constituents, the people we are elected to represent.  We are stuck in a vicious cycle, where candidates are forced to solicit massive donations in order to remain competitive.  To do otherwise would be to concede defeat and forfeit any chance of changing the system once they are elected. 

The system is broken, and we need to fix it.  I took a strong stand against the power of money in politics this session, sponsoring House Bill 2312.  The bill provides for publicly financed campaigns for state-level races, which would reduce dependence on private donations that potentially corrupt the process.  In contrast to presidential elections, where public financing has long been available, candidates running for state offices have had to depend exclusively on private donations.  Similar bills have recently been enacted in Arizona, Maine, Connecticut, and Vermont with great success.  In Arizona, 10 of the 11 statewide offices are held by publicly financed candidates – candidates who ran based on their ideas, not their fundraising.

With viable publicly financed campaigns, state-level candidates would not need to turn to lobbyists, corporations, or individuals to raise money.  Instead, they would give equal attention to all of their constituents, as our Founding Fathers intended.  By removing excessive amounts of money from the process, we can level the playing field for candidates and restore public confidence in our government.

This session the debate in the Missouri General Assembly focused on whether or not to repeal campaign contribution limits.  In 1994, 73.9% of Missourians voted to approve contribution limits in order to limit the influence of money in campaigns.  While I believe we need a wholesale change in the system, contribution limits are helpful.  The people spoke clearly on this issue, and the worst thing we could do would be to overturn the will of the people and repeal campaign contribution limits completely.

The campaign contribution limit repeal was not brought to the floor until the final hour of the last day of the legislative session.  I led the floor debate opposing the bill, and offered a simple amendment that would have helped to clean up politics by prohibiting fundraising from the Capitol building or grounds, the Governor’s Mansion, and courthouses.  In another manifestation of the problems of money in politics, my amendment, which simply prohibited abuses of power in fundraising, was defeated, and the bill passed.  Though this vote was a significant step in the wrong direction for those, like me, who believe in fair elections, I will continue the fight next year, and persevere until we have elections that promote good government.

Jason R. Holsman is the 45th District representative in the Missouri House of Representatives. His Web site is jrholsman.com.