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BTL:Congress Passes Campaign Finance Reform Bill;Activists Continue Push for... |
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by Interview by Between the Lines' Scott Harris.
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Address: © 2002 Between the Lines C/O WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, Connecticut USA. |
29 Mar 2002
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Between the Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Stephen Hill, Western Regional director of the Center For Voting and Democracy. Hill looks beyond the recent campaign finance reform victory in Congress to a national grassroots movement working to overhaul the U.S. electoral system and strengthen democracy. |
Congress Passes Campaign Finance Reform Bill; Activists Continue Push for Overhaul of Electoral System
Interview by Between the Lines' Scott Harris
After seven years of hard-fought legislative battles members of the U.S. Senate -- by a 60 to 40 vote -- followed the House in passing the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. The legislation sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) -- along with Reps. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) and Martin Meehan (D-Mass.) in the House -- will ban unregulated "soft money" contributions made to political parties by corporations, unions and individuals. The measure will also restrict TV and radio issue advertising referring to specific candidates within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election and double individual hard money contribution limits from $1,000 to $2,000.
Although President Bush has said he will reluctantly sign the bill into law, a coalition of opponents of campaign finance reform vowed to fight the legislation in the courts. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), along with former White Water independent counsel Kenneth Starr and attorney Floyd Abrams declared the bill unconstitutional and believe the Supreme Court will eventually rule in their favor.
Between the Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Stephen Hill, Western Regional director of the Center For Voting and Democracy. Hill looks beyond the recent campaign finance reform victory in Congress to a national grassroots movement working to overhaul the U.S. electoral system and strengthen democracy. Their recent successes include public financing of elections in several states and the adoption of instant run-off voting in San Francisco and 49 towns in Vermont(A RealAudio Version of this interview may be found at http://www.btlonline.org).
Contact the Center For Voting and Democracy Center by calling (301) 270-4616 or visit their Web site at www.fairvote.org <http://www.fairvote.org>
(A RealAudio Version of this interview may be found at http://www.btlonline.org).
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