Phillips calls for public campaign financing to decrease influence of special interests

Legislation would put November ballot measure before voters

King County voters would have the chance to decide whether to publicly finance campaigns for King County elected offices, under legislation introduced today by Metropolitan King County Councilmember Larry Phillips. The proposal would put the question before voters in the November 2008 general election.

“When campaigns are run and financed by a privileged few, democracy suffers,” said Phillips. “Public campaign financing is a tool to help level the playing field, promote greater participation in running for elected office, and give voters more choices. It also increases the influence of regular citizens by decreasing the influence of special interests.”

“Public campaign financing enabled me, as a novice candidate in my first run for public office, to successfully participate in the election process,” he added. “It’s important to me that we give today’s candidates the same opportunity.”

The public campaign finance program proposed by Phillips’ legislation is modeled after a program King County voters put in place two decades ago, but which was eliminated by subsequent changes in state law. It would allow the use of public matching funds to finance campaigns for the offices of King County Executive, Prosecutor, Sheriff, Assessor, County Council, and District and Superior Court Judges. The funds would be available to candidates who meet specific requirements and who agree to limits on candidate contributions and campaign expenditures.

The goal of the program is to promote a more fair and democratic system for electing candidates, reducing the costs of running for elected office, and opening opportunities for those seeking to run for elected office regardless of their personal wealth or the wealth of their supporters.

During the 2008 state legislative session, Phillips wrote a letter and testified in support of allowing local jurisdictions to use local public funds to finance campaigns. The state passed such legislation but required voter approval before local campaign finance programs can be implemented.


“With the Presidential campaign helping raise awareness about campaign finance reform issues, November 2008 is the right time for voters to have a say on local public campaign financing,” said Phillips.


Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system. Type in "2008-0147"