Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts wants to expand the state’s clean election program.
The Camden Democrat called this year’s pilot program a success Tuesday, said the program needed some “refinements” and not a “complete overhaul.”
“The 2007 Clean Elections experience was a vast improvement over the initial 2005 trial of public financing in legislative races,” he said in a press release, in which he outlined three broad changes in the program:
1. Expand the number of Clean Election districts; at a minimum, expand the program to include primary elections in 2009.
2. Strive for parity funding for third-party candidates so they have a more level playing field competing against the major party candidates.
3. Ratchet down spending in designated Clean Election districts as a means of extending public financing to more districts in future elections without requiring exorbitant increases in taxpayer subsidies.
The reforms are the logical next step for a program that helped create a level playing field in the 14th District — even with Common Sense America, an outside group, paying for ads that attacked Democrat Linda Greenstein’s record on taxes.
And leveling the playing field — and expanding opportunities for candidates not tied to the political power structure — is what the program is about.
What was most interesting about Speaker Roberts’ announcement, however, were not the trio of revisions he offered. Those have been on the table for weeks — both Assembly members representing South Brunswick, Bill Baroni, the Hamilton Republican was was just elected to the state Senate, and Linda Greenstein, a Plainsboro Democrat, have said they wanted to see the program expanded and subsidies to candidates reduced.
What is interesting is his interest in potentially expanding the program to local races.
In announcing his principles for improving the program, Roberts also said he is writing a letter to Governor Corzine’s chief of staff, Bradley Abelow, to request that any Clean Elections funds appropriated for the 2007 program remain in the next state budget. Roberts said the funds would be available for potential use in 2008 in the event the program is expanded for local elections – an idea the Speaker plans to examine.
The clean elections program is not perfect and, as the intrusion of Common Sense America shows, special interest cash is unlikely to be removed from the process completely.
But its influence can be reduced by providing candidates with public financing, allowing them to compete electorally without having to rely on corporate or special-interest money.
“The experiences from this year’s three Clean Elections districts prove that the addiction to special interest money can be broken and that voters can become willing participants in meaningful, issue-driven campaigns,” said Roberts.
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Hank Kalet 