Senator George Voinovich (R-OH), the Ethics Committee chairman, is considering proposals for the public financing of elections, according to The Hill newspaper. The proposals are set to come from the joint efforts of Democratic Senators Chris Dodd (CT) and Dick Durbin (IL). Voinovich stated, “Maybe it is the answer. Too much of our time is spent raising money, time spent campaigning, time buying TV ads. When everyone’s out there trying to raise money, dialing for dollars ... until we deal with this issue you’re going to continue to have problems.” Durbin believes that “the heart of the lobbying reform question is still money.” Voinovich and Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), Ethics Committee ranking member, also released last week correspondence from the Justice Department asking the Committee not to investigate Senators tied to Jack Abramoff.

After a record setting year for independent campaign expenditures, the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission is calling for the public financing of elections, according to the Los Angeles Times. Corporations, unions, and individuals spent $4.9 million on the election last year with 96% percent of that money spent in the final thirty days of the election. Studies show that “independent expenditures ballooned from $323,000 in 1993 to $3.2 million in 2001,” while the 2005 number was 54% higher than the 2001 amount. The Times also notes that, “298 lobbyists and 134 lobbying firms accounted for nearly $600,000 in contributions to 18 candidates. Lobbyists also engaged in fundraising to bring in an additional $450,000 for 14 of the candidates.”

Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) stated that they will push for the public financing of elections in the wake of congressional bribery and lobbying scandals, according to The Hill newspaper. In the House, David Obey (D-WI) and Barney Frank (D-MA) have introduced a bill to allow for the public financing of elections by creating a national campaign fund, funded voluntarily by taxpayers and a tax of one-tenth of one percent of all corporate profits over $10 million. Durbin and Dodd have not suggested what their proposal would look like but have expressed concern that lobbying reform proposals will not fix the source of the corruption, which is the need to fundraise due to the high cost of running elections.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will take up – and likely pass – a proposal to allow for the public financing of city mayoral contests, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Leaders of both of the two major San Francisco political parties – the Democrats and the Greens – support the reform measure, although Democratic Mayor Gavin Newson believes that the current campaign for public financing targets him and his campaign which outspent his Green Party opponent, the President of the Board of Supervisors Matt Gonzales, nearly 6-1.