The so-called campaign finance reformers are at it again. This time they’ve got a behemoth of a bill only Rube Goldberg could love. A massive, convoluted tome that adds a mountain of rules that would only impact six political races in the entire state. The Governor’s race and the state’s five Executive Council seats.
SB 304- FN-A is AN ACT relative to campaign contributions and expenditures, and making an appropriation therefor.
This bill establishes a fund to provide campaign financing for eligible candidates for governor and councilor and makes an appropriation to the fund. Candidates qualify for financing by collecting a requisite number of qualifying contributions, limiting the size of private contributions, and complying with other provisions of the public financing law. The bill also establishes a voter-owned elections commission to administer the fund.
Go ahead and take a stroll through this monster with its Democrat sponsors and what appear to be good intentions.
Frankly, I don’t trust any of it.
Democrats have always favored limiting speech by arguing that money isn’t speech. Now the same people are pushing this Democracy voucher system. Also known as Democracy dollars.
Does it help that the first place they tried this was municipal elections in Seattle?
In Seattle, they funded the voucher program with a property tax. That’s being challenged in court, and the voucher system will eventually get thrown out. You can’t make other people pay for your political expression.
New Hampshire’s version claims to be voluntary. But I have my doubts. It looks like some general fund money could find its way in there.
There’s a lot of overhead costs
The fiscal note says it could cost over 1 million dollars per election cycle to administer the fund. That’s not money donated to candidates, that’s for overhead. For five elected offices which are under no obligation to participate.
Just to get the million, plus the actual donations the bureaucracy created to operate this monster needs to go out and beg businesses, foundations, organizations, and even individuals to give them money. Dollars that could end up going to candidates who do not have their best interests at heart.
What if no one volunteers to fund it? Why would they? Most people in New Hampshire have no idea what the Executive Council is or does. And they don’t care. They certainly don’t want a portion of their speech to cover the administrative overhead costs of the law.
The legislature should do us all a favor. They harpooned a bill that would have set funding limits on the election of the Secretary of State. Kill this one too.
