For Immediate Release
Thursday, July 12, 2001
Statement by AFSCME Director of Legislation Charles Loveless on H.R. 2356, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) opposes the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001 (H.R. 2356), introduced by Representatives Christopher Shays and Martin Meehan.
The bill would virtually prohibit state and local parties from using soft money to fund important grassroots activities aimed at stemming an important problem in our democracy - the low rate of voter participation. AFSCME agrees with the concerns raised by many lawmakers that reducing resources available for grassroots activities will have a negative effect on voter participation and political engagement of ordinary citizens. In recent elections, less than half of the voting age population has gone to the polls, a decline of 25 percent over the last 40 years.
By decreasing the resources available for such activities as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, H.R. 2356 will make the low rate of citizen participation even worse. This is especially true in low-income, urban districts where turnout is traditionally lower — particularly among people of color — and few voters have the wherewithal to contribute to parties and candidates. The small contribution allowances recently added to the bill fall far short of what party organizations require for these vitally important efforts.
The Campaign Reform and Citizen Participation Act of 2001 (H.R. 2360), the bipartisan bill sponsored by Representatives Robert Ney and Albert Wynn, is a marked improvement over Shays-Meehan in this respect. Unlike Shays-Meehan, H.R. 2360 allows parties - especially at the state and local level - to use soft money as it was originally intended: to sign up eligible voters and get them to the polls on election day. However, the Ney-Wynn bill's increases in hard money contribution limits would give wealthy individuals even more influence in the system.
Grassroots activities help enfranchise Americans and give voice to their views and concerns at the federal, state and local level. Restricting the ability of state and local parties to spend soft money on these activities will undermine the foundations of our democracy and lead to greater detachment between ordinary citizens and the political process. For these reasons, we urge the House of Representatives to reject the Shays-Meehan bill.
