The Independent View: U.S. House Passes Bill Eliminating Public Financing for Presidential Campaigns and Political Conventions

On December 11, 2013, the U.S. House passed HR 2019, which repeals public funding for presidential conventions. The vote was 295-103. The bill is now in the Senate.

On January 26th, 2011, the House of Representatives voted to eliminate the federal public financing system that helps pay for presidential campaigns and political conventions. The vote was 239-160.

This House bill, sponsored by Oklahoma Republican Rep Tom Cole, would have eliminate the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. This voluntary public financing system was created in 1976, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, to lessen the influence of corporate money on campaigns. Taxpayers can check off a box on their tax returns directing $3 in federal money to the program. The funding is limited to parties that polled at least 5% of the vote in the previous presidential election.

According to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, ending the program would save $617 million over the next ten years. Money currently in the fund, $195 million, cannot be used for other purposes, so zeroing out the program would transfer those dollars to the Treasury.

During the House debate, California Democrat Lynn Woolsey said, "Special interest money is having a corrosive effect on our Democracy, eating away at the people's confidence in their government and their elected representatives. The one beacon of light in this system is the public financing of presidential campaigns. It is, I would remind everyone, a voluntary system." Cole told CNN the public financing system was created before campaigns starting raising contributions on the internet, and it's not needed anymore.

Public Finance Action Fund, a non partisan group pushing for public financing at the state and federal levels, released a statement opposing GOP efforts to dismantle the system. "These efforts are not about saving taxpayer money, they are about giving corporate donors even more access than they enjoy today. We hope these measures don't advance any further."

According to the Federal Election Commission, which administers the program, participation among taxpayers has dropped significantly since it started, with nearly 29 percent of taxpayers checking off money for the fund in 1980 to about 8 percent in 2007.

But it died in the Senate.