The long-awaited bills in Congress for public funding of Congressional candidates have been introduced. In the House, the bill is HR1826, sponsored by John B. Larson (D-Ct.) and 12 co-sponsors so far. In the Senate it is S752. Unlike past bills on this subject in Congress, the bills treats all candidates alike, regardless of party or independent status. However, write-in candidates may not qualify. House candidates qualify for public funding by raising at least 1,500 contributions from their district. The total raised privately must equal at least $50,000. Contributions between $5 and $100 count for this purpose. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for news of the bills.

On April 1, the Illinois Senate defeated SB 1666 by a vote of 17-37. It would have converted Illinois from a state with a primary in which the primary voter must publicly say which primary ballot he or she wants, to a system in which the primary voter makes that decision in the secrecy of the voting booth. Thanks to Steve Rankin for this news. Proponents of the change are not downhearted, because they have been working for this change for many years, and this is the first time this type of bill has advanced this far.

The Constitution Party holds a national committee meeting in Newark, New Jersey, June 11-13. Former Congressmember Virgil Goode will speak at that meeting. Goode had been a Democratic member of Congress from Virginia, and then in the 1990’s had been re-elected as an independent, and then afterwards he was elected to several more terms as a Republican. He was defeated for re-election in 2008.