Vitali proposes public financing for
Pennsylvania gubernatorial campaigns
A public financing system for Pennsylvania gubernatorial elections would limit the influence of special interest group money and make races more competitive by attracting qualified candidates, according to Vitali.
At a Capitol news conference held with House and Senate members and several government reform groups, Vitali urged Gov. Tom Ridge to make a real difference on Pennsylvania's political landscape by pushing for a system that would give voters a true choice in gubernatorial elections.
Under Vitali's measure, qualified gubernatorial candidates could receive a maximum of $7.8 million in public funding for elections. The state would match qualified contributions to candidates according to a $2-to-$1 ratio.
Administered by State Ethics Commission and modeled after a successful law in New Jersey, the public financing program would be funded by a $5 checkoff on Personal Income Tax forms and through an appropriation from the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
An $8 million general election and a $4 million primary election spending limit would be imposed for candidates who take part, and participation would be voluntary. Regardless of whether a candidate participates, individuals or political action committees could contribute no more than $2,000 to a gubernatorial candidate per election.
Vitali also pointed out that participating gubernatorial candidates would have to engage in five debates -- two before the primary election and three before the general election.
"Public financing encourages candidates to spend more time meeting with voters and talking about issues instead of trying to raise huge sums of cash to finance their election effort," said Vitali, who represents the 166th Legislative District.
"With no public financing system and no campaign contribution limits in Pennsylvania, our election process has become more about financial strength than about any issue or party value," he said.
Vitali noted that Pennsylvania's 1998 gubernatorial race essentially was a nonelection. Incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Ridge beat Democratic challenger Ivan Itkin by more than 25 percentage points. Ridge started his campaign with a war chest of more than $5 million -- contributions that came in no small part from firms and corporations that received state contracts. Itkin, on the other hand, started his campaign with less than $90,000.
In contrast, New Jersey has the first and arguably one of the best public financing programs in the country for gubernatorial elections. The past two elections -- Whitman vs. McGreevy and Whitman vs. Florio -- were extremely competitive. Both races were decided by less than 1 percent.
Unlike Pennsylvania, where credible and highly qualified candidates were scared away by Ridge's campaign coffers, many qualified candidates were attracted into the New Jersey primary with public financing.
"In addition to attracting quality candidates and promoting a more competitive election process, public financing would greatly reduce a candidate's dependency on special interest group money, ensuring greater independence once a candidate is in office," Vitali said.
"Although Pennsylvania should have a public financing system and contribution limits for all statewide and legislative races, starting with gubernatorial elections would be an important first step," he said. "It is time for us to give every qualified candidate the opportunity to inject important ideas into the election process."
Fourteen states now have some sort of public financing system set up for gubernatorial elections.