Public financing riles senators

Friday, April 3, 2009

Senators heavily amended the bill, changing how campaigns would be funded, who could make contributions and who could work for candidates.

With so many modifications, the Senate sent the bill back to the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, a tactic that often is the death knell for legislative proposals.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and Sen. Roy P. Dyson, vice chairman of the committee, both said they believed the bill was dead. Dyson (D-St. Mary's, Calvert, Charles) said the panel would just restore the bill to its original state before sending it back to the full Senate.

Ryan O'Donnell, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, a leading advocate of public campaign financing, was hopeful the bill still could return to the Senate floor.

"This was an improbable piece of legislation to begin with, considering its history," he said, referring to Miller's newfound support of the bill. He dropped his longtime opposition and became a sponsor this year when the measure increased campaign limits for candidates raising money traditionally.

Under the bill, candidates in the 2014 legislative races could apply for state funding of their campaigns if they raised $5 from 350 individuals, plus $1,000. They then would be eligible for up to $50,000 for the primary and general elections. They could not raise other money.

Candidates could eschew public financing and raise money traditionally.

Another sponsor, Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George's), estimated public financing for the 2014 races could cost $9 million.

The money would come from a $5 check-off on state tax forms, diverting money from the state's general fund, which pays for most government services. That drew the ire of opponents who questioned whether legislators should be considering such a measure during a budget crisis.

"We've made the determination in this bill that general fund dollars should go for bumper stickers and lawn signs and campaign rallies. What an awful thing to tell the citizens of Maryland," Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore), one of the bill's most persistent critics, said..

The bill at one point raided $5.2 million from a fund created to assist gubernatorial candidates. Senators questioned the legality of transferring the money.

Republicans cried foul because at least one challenger to Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), Michael Pappas of Perry Hall, has said he would use public financing for his candidacy. One amendment made the check-off an addition to taxes. Another prohibited outside groups, political action committees and companies from helping candidates get qualifying signatures. And a third closed a loophole that allowed owners of multiple limited-liability corporations to exceed campaign contribution limits.

"I think people had some kind of amendment blindness at the end," O'Donnell said.

"They were confused and they wanted to send it back to the committee and get it straightened out."

dtallman@gazette.net