Summary of VOICE

Iowa Voters has a great summary of the VOICE bill that failed to pass out of committee in the last legislative session.

Here is part of the summary. Follow the link to read the rest.

This new Act gives candidates for public office a choice in how they fund their campaign for elective office. It is completely voluntary on the part of the candidate. VOICE provides qualifying candidates—who agree to limit their spending and reject contributions from private sources—with a set amount of public funds to run for office.

In general, VOICE candidates receive full public financing for the primary and the general elections. They qualify for funding by raising a high number of $5 qualifying contributions from voters in their districts or state. VOICE is not an attempt to patch up the current system, but instead is designed as an alternative to it. VOICE reform provides another way for candidates to finance their campaigns.

A similar law has already been enacted in Maine, Arizona, and Connecticut. New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina and Vermont have enacted the “clean money” option for some races.

VOICE has passed constitutional muster to date by working within the confines of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as Buckley v. Valeo (1976). The Buckley ruling states that government can place limits on the amount of money an individual or PAC can contribute to a candidate. However, government cannot place limits on spending UNLESS public financing is offered and the system is voluntary.

VOICE is funded with $10 million from unclaimed and abandoned properties in the custody of the State Treasurer’s office. In other words, it is not funded with tax money. Other funding sources include a $5 income tax check-off ($10 joint return), voluntary contributions to the VOICE Fund with up to a $200 tax deduction, unspent seed money, and qualifying contributions.

VOICE will be brought back during the next legislative session. Most Iowans believe money has too much influence in politics. VOICE would give influence back to the common person. However, there are a lot of misconceptions about how VOICE would work, so it is important the public and our elected officials are educated about the bill.