Gillibrand Proposes Public Campaign Financing Plan

Politico reports:

Kirsten Gillibrand jumped into the Democratic presidential policy race Wednesday with a “clean elections” plan that would provide a voter-driven public option for campaign financing.

The New York Democrat’s first policy rollout aims to reduce the influence of special-interest money in politics, an issue that’s grown in significance for Democratic primary voters — and one that Gillibrand argues is an essential step toward enacting other policy changes.

Under Gillibrand’s plan, eligible voters could opt into her “Democracy Dollars” program and register for vouchers, provided by the Federal Elections Commission, to donate up to $100 in a primary election and $100 in a general election each cycle. Each participant would get $200 for each type of federal contest: House, Senate and presidential elections.

Under Gillibrand’s plan, candidates would have to agree to accept no donations over $200 in order to receive the public money from supporters. Voters could only contribute to House and Senate candidates that would represent their district.

The current limit for donations per election is $2800 ($5600 combined for primary and general elections.)

Sen. Gillibrand has unveiled a plan to give every voter up to $600 in what she calls “Democracy Dollars” that they can donate to federal candidates for office. https://t.co/bhIw49h5g4

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 1, 2019