* I didn’t think it was possible to makecontribution caps even more harmful to challengers than they have proved to be in federal elections, but the Democratic agreement on campaign finance “reform” does just that. What a piece of work it is.
They’re capping contributions by year, instead of by election cycle. What that means is, if you’re the governor, you can take a $10,000 PAC check every year for all four years of your term. Your challenger, however, won’t usually be gearing up for four years. The challenger will get maybe two bites of the apple, to your four. In federal elections, which are based on primary and general election cycles, the challenger and the incumbent get equal numbers of bites at that apple.
The bill doesn’t cap in-kind contributions (goods, services, etc.) from caucus committees and state parties. Cash is capped at $90,000 a year, but in-kinds are not, so there really aren’t any caps at all. The House GOP does most of its spending via in-kinds already, for instance, so this will have zero impact on their standard operating procedure.
I have more, but I’m saving it for subscribers. There are good points, too. A few that will be despised by some powerful Statehouse interests. Take a look through it yourself.
…Adding… Reform commission chairman Pat Collins talks about the campaign caps bill…
…Additionally… President Cullerton responds to some of Collins’ criticisms of campaign caps bill…
* 9:00 pm - The Senate just passed HB 7 (Sen. Harmon’s campaign caps bill) 36-22-1