January 17, 2008

Clean Elections Update  

Our Public Campaign Financing Act was introduced this week as HB4050 and S240. Please thank our sponsors: Delegates Doyle (lead), Brown, Hatfield, Marshall, Browning, Ellem, Lane, Moore, Fleischauer, Perdue, and Klempa. Delegates Caputo, DeLong, and Campbell were also willing to sign on, and are very supportive, but do not appear as sponsors because of the number limit. Our Senate sponsors are Kessler (lead), Edgell, Foster, Guills, Hunter, Jenkins, Love, McCabe, Plymale, Sprouse, Unger, Wells, and White. The bill has been referred to Judiciary and then Finance in both Chambers.

We have been promised a meeting with Judiciary Chair Carrie Webster very soon, and hope to discuss with her our plans to work the bill in the House. We are also working to set up a meeting with Treasurer John Perdue to discuss funding for clean elections. If your Delegate is on the Judiciary Committee, please contact him or her and ask that they support the bill. A list of members can be found at http://www.legis.state.wv.us You can also send an email directly from the site.

A very special event is being planned for February 28! Senator Jon Hunter, a dedicated Clean Elections supporter who unfortunately has decided not to run again this year, has agreed to join us for a reception honoring him and his work! The event will be held at the Charleston Women's Club, on the corner of Virginia and Elizabeth Streets from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Mark your calendar now and plan to attend! The event will be a fundraiser in support of our new Challenge Grant.

We have been given the opportunity to receive a one-to-one match if we can raise $15,000 by March 1, 2008. These challenge grants are the main source of funding for our clean elections work, so meeting the goal is extremely important. Your help would be greatly appreciated! If you're unable to attend this exciting event, contributions may be sent to OVEC (P.O. Box 6753, Huntington, WV 25773) or WV Citizen Action (1500 Dixie St., Charleston, WV 25311).

The lead article in the Herald-Dispatch on Wednesday, "Maynard trip raising more questions," gave us a terrific opportunity to talk about clean elections. Public financing can help us ensure that candidates are responsible to the voters, not the special interests. It can also free candidates from spending time fundraising, and from any appearance of impropriety and undue influence by campaign contributors.