PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FINANCING SOUGHT; COALITION TO START INITIATIVE PETITION

Voters may get to decide in November if they want to publicly fund political campaigns for the Missouri Legislature and statewide offices.

A coalition plans to circulate an initiative petition to get a campaign finance-reform measure on the November ballot. The group is Missouri Voters for Clean Elections. which is based in St. Louis.

It is a coalition of 37 groups, including labor unions and organizations that represent senior citizens, women and environmentalists.

The League of Women Voters of Missouri also is involved in the effort. Another group involved is the American Association of Retired Persons, which has more than 700,000 members in the state. Missouri Alliance for Campaign Reform is a key player in the effort. Voters for Clean Elections has lobbied for the past four years for a change in the way political campaigns are funded.

Missouri Alliance for Campaign Reform supports legislation in the state House and Senate that would allow public financing of some elections. But Patrick Harvey, Voters for Clean Elections executive director, said Monday it is doubtful lawmakers will pass such a measure this session. As a result, his organization and others involved in the coalition plan to begin circulation of petitions soon to take the issue directly to voters.

Kaia Lenhart, campaign manager for Voters for Clean Elections, said wording on the petition has been reviewed by the secretary of state's office. It currently is being reviewed by the attorney general's office.

If the wording meets the state's legal requirements, the petition drive could start within a week, she said from her St. Louis office.

Lenhart said the coalition must collect at least 75,000 signatures of registered voters from at least six of the nine congressional districts. The petitions must be submitted by July 3 to get the issue on the November ballot.

"We are shooting for about 120,000 signatures," she said. The coalition plans to secure signatures in all nine congressional districts.

Lenhart said the coalition expects to spend more than $1 million to campaign for passage of the issue.

If approved, the funding system would be in effect starting with the 2002 primary election.

Lenhart said polls show that a majority of Missourians support public financing for campaigns in conjunction with spending limits. "Missouri voters are frustrated with the process," she said. "There is too much money in politics.

"They see that special interests have more say in state government than they do. They are ready to make a change, and they are ready to have their voices heard," Lenhart said.

Harvey spoke about campaign finance reform during a visit Monday to Cape Girardeau.

The reform plan being pushed would provide public financing for candidates who agree to limit campaign spending and not take private money in the primary and general elections.

Harvey said candidates would have a choice: They could secure private funding or accept public money.

"This is a purely voluntary system. That's why it is constitutional," he said.

The measure would apply to candidates for state representative, state senator, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and state auditor.

To qualify for public funds for a primary election, candidates would have to obtain a certain number of $5 contributions.

A state representative candidate would have to obtain 200 such contributions; a state senator candidate, 500; a candidate for statewide office except governor, 250 qualifying contributions in each of six congressional districts for a total of 1,500; and a candidate for governor, 500 contributions in each of six districts for a total of 3,000.

The reform measure would limit the amount of state money a candidate could receive for any single election, based on the particular office.

A candidate for state representative could receive $10,000; state senator, $50,000; statewide office other than governor, $500,000; and governor, $1 million.

The primary and general election would be counted as two separate elections. So a gubernatorial candidate could receive $2 million in an election year, Harvey said.

An unopposed candidate could receive 25 percent of the full funding amount.

Harvey said reform proponents believe that it is important for voters to hear from their candidates, even those that are unopposed.

All financing would be done through a special credit-card system. Each debit card would have a limited line of credit.

If a candidate were outspent by a privately financed opponent, his or her credit limit would be raised to keep pace, Harvey said.

A candidate could receive public funding up to 300 percent of the originally budgeted amount. A gubernatorial candidate could receive up to $4 million for a single election, Harvey said.

The Missouri Alliance for Campaign Reform estimates that publicly financed election campaigns could cost $8 million to $10 million a year.

The measures in the Legislature would fund the system through general revenue. But the initiative-petition process requires a specific revenue source, Harvey said.

He said the petition plan would lower the maximum state tax credit on federal income tax paid by any single taxpayer from $5,000 to $4,750.