Open-Campaign Ideal Isn’t Dead

The big political money began flowing Wednesday in the wake of a federal judge’s ruling that key parts of California’s tough new campaign finance law--Proposition 208, passed by voters last November--clash with the 1st Amendment. Proponents of funding curbs will appeal, but it’s uncertain whether a ruling will be made in time to affect the 1998 elections. Nor is it likely that the Legislature will enact an adequate reform measure, especially in the midst of an election campaign.

The long-term solution is another measure placing contribution limits high enough to pass constitutional muster. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton said that the $500 limit set by Proposition 208 for each contributor was not enough to guarantee that candidates could get their messages out.

There is some recourse for 1998: to make sure candidates file their contribution reports on time and in full so the public can see which special interests are bankrolling them.

The good news this past year was the passage of a bill that requires campaigns to report their contributions on the Internet. Unfortunately, such reports will not be mandatory until the 2000 elections, but the system will operate this year on a voluntary basis. Secretary of State Bill Jones has urged all campaigns to file electronically so their reports will be fully accessible to the public.

There should be no excuse for campaign managers not to do so; no state campaign can operate without computers. Voters should be suspicious of any campaign that refuses to post its statements on the Internet in 1998 and will have just cause to ask: “What do they have to hide?”