Public Financing of Political Campaigns

A core of our political problems is the central role that money has assumed. The enormous cost of campaigns and nonstop pursuit of funds feed each other and skew everything from the time priorities of our leaders to the perceptions of media and opinion leaders. Court decisions equating spending with speech have enabled the commoditization of self-government. These trends have destructive implications for democracy.

Illinois should be moving toward a public financing model. The modest recommendations of the Collins Commission in 2009 with respect to judicial elections should be adopted. There will be cost to any public financing model, but the cost of the "corruption tax" we all pay is much greater. Ultimately, government that is not dependent on a foundation of free-for-all campaign spending will serve the public at lower cost.

Realize, however, that as Frederick Douglass wrote, "Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will." An effort to move toward public financing will be met with great resistance. As state representative from the 17th District, I will be able to make a case to my colleagues based not just upon ideological passion, but on a wealth of real-world experience in the political arena combined with the ideas of some of the best reform-minded thinkers in Illinois.


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