City Council approves plan to elevate matching fund program
LOS ANGELES (Nov. 2, 2010) -The Los Angeles City Council
voted Tuesday to place a "Voter-owned election" referendum
on the March 2011 ballot in order to encourage more
candidates to use the City's matching fund program while
limiting special interest influence.
Introduced by Councilmember Jos? Huizar as part of the "Los
Angeles Voters' Bill of Rights," an election reform package
created by good government groups and the Council member,
Tuesday's vote means a ballot measure will be drawn up
asking L.A. City voters to lift the current Public Matching
Fund Program Trust Fund cap, which experts say is necessary
if the City is serious about increasing the number of
serious candidates using the City's matching fund
program.
If voters pass the ballot measure to remove the cap,
currently a little over $12 million, that vote will enable
significant changes in the City's matching fund program
designed to increase the number of qualified candidates,
particularly citywide ones, to compete against heavily
financed candidates.
"Today, we took a significant step in ensuring fairness in
our elections and allowing a more diverse pool of
candidates the opportunity to run serious campaigns without
being independently wealthy or depending on special
interest money," said Councilmember Jos? Huizar.
Currently, the City's Matching Fund Program is limited in
the amount of funding that it can offer candidates for
office due to limited resources, which ironically is one of
the main reasons why the fund is currently at its cap.
Since the passage of Proposition H in 1990 created the
Ethics Commission and the City's matching funds program,
2009 was the first year that none of the leading candidates
for Citywide office agreed to participate in the
program.
Enhancements such as increasing the current 1-to-1 matching
ratio for citywide candidates, will be needed to entice the
expected candidates for the Mayor's office in 2013 to
participate in the City's program, which sets spending
limits for candidates and also requires public debates.
There are also a number of Council seats that will be open
in both 2013 and 2015 due to term limits and added funding
would allow for increased matching fund limits in those
races.
"Los Angeles voters owe Councilmember Jose Huizar and
Council President Eric Garcetti their thanks for working to
give them the chance to vote on this important start to
addressing the problem of special interest money in
politics," said Trent Lange, President, California Clean
Money Campaign. "Strengthening the City's voter-passed
matching funds system will let candidates spend less time
fundraising and more time talking with voters."
With the increase in Independent Expenditures (IEs) this
election cycle on the federal and state levels the ability
of the City to help candidates targeted by IEs with
matching funds becomes all the more important.
This past Friday, the City Council voted unanimously to
adopt Councilmember Jos? Huizar's legislation calling for
Vote-by-Mail elections in the City's next available Council
seat Special Election. The plan would also leave open all
polling places so voters can either vote-by-mail or vote in
person on Election Day.
Following the Council seat Special Election, the City
Clerk's office would determine the number of people who
participated via Vote-by-Mail vs. those who voted in
person. The City Council could then use that data to
determine how many polling places they would need to keep
open in order to expand Vote-by-Mail in future
elections.
The Council is scheduled to take the third plank of
Councilmember Huizar's election reform package, Ranked
Choice Voting (RCV), at tomorrow's meeting. The proposal,
as it stands is to try out this more progressive form of
voting in special elections, where in addition to saving
the City, LAUSD and Community College District millions of
dollars with each usage, RCV also can help to fill vacant
seats faster, ensuring that voters do not have to do
without elected representation.
Councilmember Huizar election reform package, the Los
Angeles Voters' Bill of Rights, has the support of Council
President Eric Garcetti and several good government
organizations, including California Common Cause; League of
Women Voters of Los Angeles; California Clean Money
Campaign and the Southwest Voter Registration Education
Project.
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