RALEIGH -- As the General Assembly begins to wrap up this year's session, the Senate is taking up an important ethics bill to address the issue of money in state politics. While the measure is laudable, it doesn't fully combat the damaging dependence candidates have on private campaign contributions.
The Government Ethics and Campaign Reform Act of 2010 (HB 961) contains several key points to help guard against corruption, such as improved transparency requirements and a stronger cooling-off period before lawmakers turn lobbyists.
But these provisions are like cholesterol medicine when we also need to address the awful diet of special-interest cash at the root of the political system's ills. Given a history of candidates for such races as those for Council of State receiving campaign contributions from the groups and industries they regulate, something has to change.
The solution is truly voter-owned elections.
Giving candidates the option of raising small contributions from a number of North Carolina voters to qualify for public campaign funds can free our elected officials from the incessant special-interest money chase and ensure that they are accountable only to the voters and not to any wealthy group or individual.
Public financing of elections isn't new in North Carolina. Our appellate judges and some executive branch offices already have public financing. The program has been blessed by the legislature, voters and the courts as a constitutionally sound way to prevent corruption, and so far it has worked well.
Some critics say that contribution disclosure requirements and other ethics reforms are sufficient to guard against corruption. Yet given the profoundly corrosive effect of big money in politics, the inclusion of public financing would be an acknowledgment that tougher ethics laws alone won't cure what ails us.
The problems facing our democracy are wide-ranging. The public pays very little attention to the matters before our state government. When we do tune in, we find it difficult to trust that the system is working for us.
Reports of special favors and big-money influence make it hard to believe that our government is of, by and for the people.
Some lawmakers may be reluctant to change the rules of the game under which they have been successful. And wealthy interests fight tooth and nail to preserve the status quo that favors them.
But there is an increasing realization in the halls of government and by citizens across the state that we have to change. The public feels as though the system works for the special interests and that average voters are left out. A March poll commissioned by the N.C. Center for Voter Education found 69 percent of Democratic voters and 75 percent of Republican voters in favor of broad reforms to the campaign finance system.
Most people who enter politics do so with a sincere desire to do right by the people who elected them. Unfortunately, we make it all but impossible for our public servants to serve. Between the constant fundraising demands on politicians and the scores of high-paid lobbyists looking to shape public policy, we have created a system where the issues of the people take a backseat to the few who have the resources to push their agenda.
This system is not going to change overnight. The Government Ethics and Campaign Reform Act is a step forward, but voter-owned elections must be a part of any real and lasting improvement to our democracy.
Damon Circosta is the executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education, a Raleigh-based nonprofit organization.
