Having successfully implemented the nation's first voucher-based system for public funding of campaigns, Seattle is looking at another way to limit big money's influence on local elections.
The city's ethics and elections commission started considering legislation Tuesday that would prohibit corporations owned or operated to a significant degree by foreign entities from spending to influence municipal elections. The bill would also significantly limit how much in "independent expenditures" any business interest could direct toward local races — effectively doing away with super PACs in Seattle.
The proposal comes at a time when Congress is not paying any attention to regulating campaign finance nationwide, creating an opening for state and local governments to fill some of the void.
St. Petersburg, Fla., enacted legislation similar to the Seattle bill in 2017, the first city to do so. The Massachusetts Legislature is also considering a bill to limit foreign influence and super PACs in state contests.
Democratic council member Lorena González proposed the Seattle legislation with support from local and national democracy reform advocates including the Seattle League of Women Voters, Fix Democracy First and Free Speech for People. Ellen Weintraub, chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, told the city council she thinks the bill's a great idea.
"Voters deserve to know who is influencing our local elections through independent expenditures and public ads," González said. "My proposed legislation would send a clear message to those who seek to buy our democracy that our local democratic process is not for sale to the highest bidder."
What Is It To You?
As part of a collaboration between The Fulcrum's NextGen initiative and Made By Us, The Fulcrum is publishing Letters to America, a series created through the Youth250 project that invites Gen Z to reflect on the nation’s past, present, and future as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary.
Dear America,
Oftentimes, we find ourselves at the crossroads of me or we. This presents the age-old question that has been asked countless times: What is it to you?
It is indisputable that, as a result of the pandemic, we have become more individualistic as a society. We should be a country where there are different understandings, but a shared identity of compassion and acceptance of differences. While the age-old question is individualistic, perhaps we can extend it to be collective.
What is it to you when your neighbor is hurting and suffering under the weight of life? What is it to you when the government implicates civil rights and freedoms, irrespective of political party? What is it to you when policies negatively impact the least among us?
As we celebrate America's 250th anniversary, let us look back as we look forward. It is only when we ask questions in the collective on how we act as human beings and how the government asserts power that we rise to be the shining city on the hill.
The following is my request: check on one another, even amid troubling times across multiple areas of society. Together, we can overcome our own weaknesses, character flaws, and blind spots, so that the sun may never stop shining over our nation, our country, and our home.
Carlos David Gamez, 23, Lakeland, FL