Release - Huizar Moderates Critical Forum on Campaign Finance Reform

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Rick Coca 213.473.5807, 213.200.9974 (cell) rick.coca@lacity.org Huizar Moderates Critical Forum on Campaign Finance Reform Experts discuss possible changes in City’s Public Campaign Finance laws in light of recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling lifting restrictions on corporate and union donations to candidates LOS ANGELES (March 4, 2010) - Councilmember José Huizar moderated a Campaign Finance Reform forum today in City Council Chambers featuring some of the leading campaign, political and election reform experts. The panel, which included Kathay Feng, Executive Director, California Common Cause; Robert Stern, President, Center For Governmental Studies and Ron Kaye, former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News, discussed whether Los Angeles should change its campaign finance laws, especially in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that lifted a ban on corporate and union donations to individual candidates. "The goal today was to bring in the brightest minds on campaign finance, election law and political reform in order to discuss whether the City of Los Angeles should consider changing its public financing laws," said Councilmember José Huizar. "Today is the first of what I hope will be many conversations on an issue whose time I believe has come, especially with the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling affecting campaign contributions in the City of Los Angeles." Besides Kathay Feng, Robert Stern and Ron Kaye, the panel also included Xandra Kayden, League of Women Voters; Trent Lang, California Clean Money Campaign; LeeAnn Pelham, Executive Director Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and Jim Sutton, attorney and noted election law expert. The knowledgeable panel offered divergent view points on the merits of campaign finance reform, with at least one of the panelists expressing support of loosening restrictions on campaign contributions, while others disagreed, saying that increased public financing of campaigns would allow more alternative candidates to run for office and level the access ordinary citizens have to elected officials vs. special interest groups. Councilmember Huizar intends to hold another forum in the future to talk about potential funding sources for increasing the City’s public financing of political campaigns, including Instant Runoff Voting, which today’s guests made strong arguments for and against. The forum’s conversational, roundtable format served the topic well and Councilmember Huizar plans on taking the main points discussed today to the City Council’s Rules & Elections Committee as part of an effort to place Campaign Finance Reform on the Council’s agenda.