Maine Democratic Party

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Pingree joins bipartisan group to introduce campaign finance reform
Fair Elections Now Act would provide public financing, limit contributions to $100

March 31, 2009
For immediate release
Contact: Willy Ritch 207-841-8400

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today joined House and Senate leaders from both parties in introducing a bill that would dramatically reform the way Congressional campaigns are financed.

Pingree joined House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (D-CT), Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC), Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) at a news conference to announce the landmark legislation today. The Fair Elections Now Act is a voluntary system that would limit contributions to $100, emphasize grassroots support and bring campaign finance reform into the 21st Century.

"The ultimate solution to campaign finance reform is to provide public financing of campaigns," Pingree said. "We've done it in Maine and it's been very successful. It's time to take the lessons we've learned in Maine to the rest of the country."

Maine has a "Clean Elections" system that allows candidates for the Legislature and Governor to raise small contributions as seed money and then receive public financing to pay for the remainder of their campaign expenses. Clean Elections candidates hold 85% of the seats in the Maine Legislature.

Pingree worked on taking the Clean Elections system to other states as President of Common Cause and says states have shown that public financing of campaigns is popular and successful.

"In Connecticut, Arizona and many other cities and states, when Clean Elections-style financing has been tried, it's worked," Pingree said. "Public financing will fix a system that has increasingly come to rely on lobbyists and big contributors."

Lawmakers introduced two versions of the bill at the news conference today-one for the Senate and one for the House. Both proposals require candidates to raise a minimum level of small individual contributions to qualify. Once they have qualified, they will have to abide by strict fundraising restrictions and disclosure requirements in return for public funding based on the average costs of winning campaigns in recent elections. (Detailed background material attached.)

The legislation has the support of the Fair Elections Now Coalition, which includes the Brennan Center, Common Cause, Democracy Matters, Public Campaign, Public Citizen and US PIRG.

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