Idaho House member Branden Durst (D-Boise) has introduced HB 27, to provide for public funding of legislative candidates. Unlike other such proposals, the bill provides certain candidates would automatically qualify for general election public funding, just by being ballot-qualified for the general election. Generally, public funding laws require candidates to show substantial support by having raised a certain number of private contributions. But HB 27 says any nominee of a party that polled at least 33% of the vote in the previous election for Governor, President or legislature (inside that district) gets $15,000 automatically.
The bill also has a formula for primary season public funding which does depend on the candidate’s having raised a certain amount of private contributions.
Candidates for the general election who are not nominees of parties that polled 33% could also get public funding if they submit 1,000 signatures of voters in their district.
What do you think of this, Richard? Is the 1,000 signatures threshhold too high to balance the automatic qualification of a major-party candidate?
Or is this a pretty good bill?
I stick to my principle that public funding bills should have criteria for getting the money that is completely separate from the candidate’s partisan affiliation. Also this bill is too generous to Democrats and Republicans who might have no active campaign at all and yet would still get the funds just because they are running in a district in which their party’s presidential candidate got over 33% of the vote.