Cash. Credit: Svetl. Royalty-free Collection: iStock / Getty Images Plus.
Quality Journalism for Critical Times
Back in the late 1990s, Floridians approved a constitutional amendment allowing for public financing for campaigns for statewide offices as a way to expand a diverse pool of candidates, access funds, participate in elections and the improve the overall electoral process.
But decades later, under a proposal passed in a Senate committee on Tuesday, some GOP lawmakers want to get rid of the public financing, while voting rights groups and Democrats vociferously oppose the measure. It would mean changing the Florida Constitution, which would entail going to the polls and voting to repeal or affirm the issue.
More than $13 million of state general revenues — taxpayer dollars — went to the candidates running for governor and the three state Cabinet positions in 2022, according to a Senate bill analysis.
More than $9.8 million of general revenues went to candidates running for those offices in 2018; more than $4.3 million in 2014 and more than $6 million in the 2010 election cycle.
Sen. Travis Hutson holding up a stack of public testimony cards on March 28, 2023. Credit: screenshot/Florida Channel
That’s money that Palm Coast Republican Travis Hutson says could have gone to other programs that Floridians care about, such as education, health care and affordable housing. That said, Democrats have countered that the GOP-controlled Legislature has not always provided enough resources for those issues, such as expanding Medicaid for low-income families.
“This is money coming out of general revenue and I believe we should put the question back to the voters to see if they would like a suspension of revenue on things other than advertising for statewide office,” Hutson told members of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, referring to his resolution (SJR 1114).
Democrats and voting rights advocates are against the idea.
Marcus R. McCoy Jr. argued against repealing public campaign financing of elections (photo credit: Marcus R. McCoy Jr.)
“This is about access,” said Pastor Marcus R. McCoy Jr., of Orlando, who is with the group Equal Ground. “Public financing encourages a more diverse pool of candidates to participate in elections. Candidates who may be discouraged by the high cost of running for a public campaign, are more likely to enter the political arena, leading to greater representation of various perspectives and demographics.”
Libby Lavette, with the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee, said that the proposal is “a significant step backwards for our democracy.”
“Public financing is not just about money,” she said, “it’s about fairness and opportunity. For too long elections have been dominated by a small group of wealthy individuals and special interests.”
In fact, about half the House and Senate lawmakers in Florida have a net worth exceeding $1 million and higher, according to the most recent financial disclosures in the Legislature, with some as high as $60 million and $35 million in the state Senate and a whopping $405 million in the House.
No one spoke out in support of the proposal at the committee meeting Tuesday, but it’s been pushed by Republicans in the Legislature for more than a decade.
In 2010, the proposal did make it to the state ballot, and received more than 52% of voter support — short of the 60% required to get into the state Constitution.
However, none of those previous legislative proposals have been approved and gone before the voters.
Broward County Democratic Sen. Tina Polsky said she is strongly opposed to the idea. She said that it would likely help Republicans, who she acknowledged have a big advantage over Democrats when it comes to raising money in Florida.
“As a result, it seems that this would be a negative for Democratic candidates, because they wouldn’t have — if this passes, and the voters voted for it — they wouldn’t have the option for public financing, which at this point they need more than the other party. So I think that this is one-sided.”
Florida is one of at least a dozen states that allow for some form of statewide public financing option for candidates, according to the National Conference of Statewide Legislatures. Some of those states include Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and New Jersey, in addition to Florida.
Sen. Bobby Powell during special session on May 23, 2022. Screenshot/FL Channel
South Florida Democrat Sen. Bobby Powell also opposes the bill, but for a different reason.
Noting that the $13 million that went to candidates running for office came out of last year’s $116.5 billion budget, he said that there were more “carve outs for a lot of things that in my opinion were a lot more detrimental” to the public than those funds for public campaign contributions.
He also noted that the Legislature’s low pay scale for House and Senate members can reduce the number of people who can actually run for office and serve in Tallahassee.
Although Florida’s constitutional provision for public financing has been in place since 1998, the program itself was first voted in by the Legislature in 1986, according to the bill analysis.
The post Do FL voters want to repeal public financing of statewide elections for governor, Cabinet members? appeared first on Florida Phoenix.