The Independent View: Campaign Finance Reform Wish List

From an article by Eliza Newlin Carney in The American Prospect.

Public cynicism about money in politics has become so reflexive and deeply ingrained that the stock refrain from voters, candidates, political experts, election lawyers, and even many reform advocates is “Nothing will ever change.”

An obvious place to start is with proposals that already enjoy broad bipartisan agreement. No matter who occupies the White House and controls Capitol Hill, meaningful policy changes won’t pass without bipartisan support. That puts a few common-sense campaign-finance rules changes at the top of the list.

These include:

Disclosure. A New York Times/CBS poll found last year that three quarters of self-identified GOP respondents said they support requiring more disclosure from outside-spending groups. Even the conservative Supreme Court majority in place before Scalia’s death upheld disclosure laws as constitutional. The conservative campaign-reform group Take Back Our Republic has endorsed full disclosure for political organizations that spend enough “to truly influence elections.” In 2010, the pro-transparency DISCLOSE Act passed the House and fell just one vote shy of passing the Senate. That bill, still pending, could be buoyed by a state-based disclosure movement that has prompted several legislatures to mull reforms that shed more light on political spending. GOP leaders who cast disclosure as a form of political intimidation are increasingly out of step with their own voters on this issue. Disclosure is the obvious starting point of any reforms.

Public Resources. Whether in the form of tax credits, tax deductions, or Federal matching funds for low-dollar contributions, proposals to inject some form of public resources into elections enjoy bipartisan traction. Conservatives at Take Back Our Republic suggest a tax credit of up to $100 for political donations, noting that Federal law permitted deductions for low-dollar contributions from 1972 to 1986. Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Jonathan Rauch and University of Massachusetts Amherst political scientist Ray La Raja have proposed tax deductions for contributions to cash-strapped state parties. House Democrat John Sarbanes, of Maryland, has introduced legislation that would combine a $25 refundable tax credit with a six-to-one Federal match for donations to Congressional candidates of $150 or less. A smart plan might combine deductions with matching funds for low-dollar contributions to both candidates and state parties. Republicans have gotten a lot of mileage out of their mantra that public financing is “welfare for politicians.” But it’s a talking point that’s starting to sound stale.

Higher Contribution Limits. Many good government advocates will balk at the notion that contribution limits should be raised. After all, some might argue, isn’t there already too much big money in politics? The problem is that much of the unregulated money sloshing through the system is being laundered through non-disclosing tax-exempt groups and super PACs that answer to consultants and not candidates or parties. Modestly relaxing the contribution limits imposed on candidates, parties, and particularly on state parties would reward those political actors who publicly report their activities and answer most directly to voters. Higher contribution limits also give Democrats an important bargaining chip to win over GOP support for campaign-finance legislation.

Better Enforcement. When a Federal Inspector General faulted the IRS in 2013 for improperly targeting Tea Party and other groups seeking tax exemptions, Treasury officials essentially ordered the tax agency to clear up its hazy and confusing regulations for political activity by tax-exempt groups. The IRS has failed to follow through, however, and even went so far recently as to grant exemption to Crossroads GPS, a GOP nonprofit that barely disguises its mostly political mandate. New rules must be crafted with care to ensure that they don’t tread on legitimate advocacy and lobbying. But it’s time install a new IRS Commissioner who is up to the challenge. New Commissioners are also long overdue at the FEC, which is yet again the target of legislation to overhaul the agency.

Depending on this election’s outcome, a long list of other democracy reforms could also be on the table, from voting rights legislation to redistricting changes. If their moment arrives, reform advocates should proceed step-by-step to avoid the risk that a single, over-ambitious bill collapses of its own weight. Today, the public consensus remains that nothing will ever happen. In a surprisingly short while however, the impossible may become the inevitable.