WVEC Action Alert

February 10, 2006

Critical Vote for “Clean Elections Bill” . . .
Ask Senators to Support S.B. 124

The Public Campaign Financing Act (S.B. 124) has been placed on the Senate Judiciary Committee agenda for Monday, February 13th, at 3:00 p.m. in Room 208 West. While there is very strong support for this bill in the committee, it still appears the vote will be close.

So we still need your help. If you are able to come to the Capitol, or if you can send people from your organization, a strong citizen presence at the committee meeting would let legislators know that West Virginians are ready for “voter-owned” elections. 

We want to thank those of you who have already phoned, written or sent e-mails to your Senators urging support for the bill.  You have already made a difference.  However, we still need you to contact the following Senate Judiciary Committee members who may be the swing votes, and ask them to support S.B. 124:

Sen. Chafin (D-Mingo)  357-7808  htchafin@mail.wvnet.edu
Sen.  Minard (D-Harrison) 357-7904 jminard@mail.wvnet.edu
Sen. Lanham (R-Mason) 357-7843
Sen. Oliverio (D-Monongalia) 357-7919 cglagola@mail.wvnet.edu

In the past, lawmakers wondered how to fund the West Virginia Public Campaign Financing Act.  Thanks to State Treasurer John Perdue – a Clean Elections supporter, we now have an answer.  State Treasurer Perdue has agreed to provide $1 million from the sale of unclaimed property to help fund the program. This will provide the “seed money” to get the West Virginia’s program started and will likely be enough to provide public financing to those candidates who opt for and qualify for funds during the program’s first year. This is great news and we are extremely appreciative of the Treasurer’s support of our efforts to change the way campaigns are financed in the Mountain State.

Here are a few other talking points:

  • This past November, Connecticut passed a public financing bill, joining seven other states and two cities that have done the same over the past decade.
  • In Maine in 2004, where the movement started, more than 80% of last year’s legislative candidate’s rejected private money, freeing them to spend more time talking to voters about the issues instead of having to spend time raising campaign contributions.  Nearly 83% of Maine’s Senate and 77% of the House is composed of legislators who ran on public funding.
  • In Arizona, 56% of all candidates in 2004 ran with “clean money.”  Arizona is the first state to elect a Clean Elections governor, Janet Napolitano, who ran a successful campaign against a candidate funded by wealthy special interests.
  • Vermont, New Jersey and New Mexico have also adopted public financing on a limited basis, as have Albuquerque and Portland, Oregon. 

Elections are the bedrock of democracy and its time that the public claim ownership of them -- not big special interests who are currently financing them at the public’s expense.

We appreciate your support for fair and clean elections in West Virginia, and hope to see you at the Capitol on Monday.

NOTE ABOUT WVEC ACTION ALERTS: We know you receive a lot of email, so it is the policy of the West Virginia Environmental Council to send you our Action Alerts only when the issues are truly important and only when there is specific important action you can take to help. Thanks for your help and support.