Senate Resolution 51 - Introduced

PAG LIN

                                    S.R. ________ H.R. ________


  1  1                SENATE RESOLUTION NO.    
  1  2                BY  DVORSKY and CONNOLLY
  1  3 A Senate Resolution providing for the formation of a
  1  4    committee by the legislative council to conduct an
  1  5    examination of public financing for state and local
  1  6    elections.
  1  7    WHEREAS, a fundamental tenet of democracy is
  1  8 government "of, by and for the people"; and
  1  9    WHEREAS, our political system at all levels is
  1 10 increasingly dominated by the influence of large sums
  1 11 of private money that finance electoral campaigns, and
  1 12 large donations that increasingly seem to be an
  1 13 integral part of lawmaking and public policy
  1 14 development; and
  1 15    WHEREAS, a number of states, including Arizona and
  1 16 Maine, have adopted systems of clean elections which
  1 17 provide full public financing for primary and general
  1 18 campaigns to candidates who opt to "run clean" and who
  1 19 qualify by gathering a set number of signatures in
  1 20 their district along with a small qualifying and
  1 21 certified contribution by each signer, and who then
  1 22 agree to accept no additional private contributions
  1 23 and not to use any of their personal wealth; NOW
  1 24 THEREFORE,
  1 25    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the legislative
  1 26 council is requested to appoint an interim committee
  1 27 to study the projected costs and sources of revenue
  1 28 that could be made available to support a system of
  1 29 public financing for state and local elections, and to
  1 30 study legislation for voter=owned Iowa clean elections
  2  1 and develop recommendations related to the specifics
  2  2 of a clean elections statute, including but not
  2  3 limited to the appropriate voluntary spending limit
  2  4 for campaigns of each type, the eligibility threshold
  2  5 for qualifying for public funds, the financing
  2  6 mechanisms and sources, and the legal requirements for
  2  7 establishing such a policy; and
  2  8    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee be
  2  9 composed of 10 members, representing both political
  2 10 parties and both houses of the general assembly, with
  2 11 five members to be members of the senate and with five
  2 12 members to be members of the house of representatives;
  2 13 and
  2 14    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the interim study
  2 15 committee issue a report of recommendations to the
  2 16 general assembly by December 15, 2007.
  2 17 LSB 2943SS 82
  2 18 jr:rj/gg/14