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Find this alert online with proper formatting at Power to Voters, Not Special Interests: Tell Your Lawmakers, 'Pass Clean Elections Reform Now'The economy may be in recession, but the 2010 state elections are still expected to shatter the 2006 record for special interest money contributed to candidates. That money creates a terrible impression that wealthy special interests get privileged access in Annapolis, while the needs of working families too often get ignored. The solution is SB 663, sponsored by Sen. Paul Pinsky, Del. Jon Cardin, and now Senate President Mike Miller. This bill would create a voluntary, publicly funded campaign finance option for General Assembly candidates. The support of the Senate President means this bill – which passed the House of Delegates in 2006 and lost by a single vote in the Senate in 2007 – has a better chance than ever to be enacted. But special interests are pressuring lawmakers to kill the bill. This legislation will pass only with your help now! Voluntary, public funding of campaigns makes it possible to hold lawmakers accountable and pass laws to benefit all of us, not just the HMOs, pharmaceutical companies, utilities, and other wealthy special interests that write big campaign checks. It's already law in Maine, Arizona, and Connecticut, where it works great. The strict qualifications rule out frivolous candidates from getting public funding. And publicly-funded candidates can focus on real issues and needs without pressure to raise money or favor special interests. This legislation is supported by 73% of Marylanders, as well as the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Common Cause, NAACP, AFL-CIO, League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, and many other organizations. Tell your lawmakers to support this long-overdue reform. The Senate hearing is this week - please
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State Headquarters: 8720 Georgia Ave., Suite 500 Silver Spring, MD 20910 • (301) 495 7004 |
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