California Democratic Party Makes Full Public Financing of Campaigns One of its Top Ten Priority Resolutions in 2005

On April 17, 2005 the California State Democratic Party passed a resolution calling for a full public financing system for statewide and legislative races.

The 2,000-plus delegates gathered for the convention adopted the resolution unanimously as one of the party's priority resolutions to a roaring round of applause throughout the convention hall.

The text of the resolution is as follows:

Clean Money for Statewide & Legislative Campaigns

WHEREAS the amount of money needed in order to run for public office and to compete against big monied interests and PACs has grown phenomenally in politics at the local, state, and national levels in the past several years; and

WHEREAS this pay-to-play system hinders the average citizen lacking great wealth from participating effectively in the political arena thus undermining the democratic process; and

WHEREAS public financing of political campaigns will both improve voters' access to their elected officials and keep elected officials from spending inordinate amounts of their time fundraising;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that California Democratic Party supports a clean money system for elected statewide and legislative offices and looks to systems working successfully in Arizona and Maine for patterns that could be adopted for California's unique electoral circumstances; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be provided to members of the Democratic Caucus of the California Legislature and Congressional Delegation.

 

 

"I don’t owe anyone after the race. . . . I don’t owe them any favors and I think that’s instrumental."

--Arizona State Representative Robert Meza (D), elected under Arizona's Voter Owned Elections program

"The need for collecting large campaign funds would vanish if Congress provided an appropriation for the proper and legitimate expenses of each of the great national parties, an appropriation ample enough to meet the necessity for thorough organization and machinery, which requires a large expenditure of money."

--President Theodore Roosevelt