Explain the pros and cons of Florida Amendment 6

Florida voters will decide this November whether to end a quarter-century-old program that allows candidates for the state’s highest office to use public money to finance their campaigns.

Amendment 6, one of six ballot measures Florida residents will consider this fall, seeks to end public funding of campaigns for governor and Cabinet positions such as attorney general.

Voters rejected a similar proposal in 2010. But the state Legislature voted this year to decide whether, if given another chance, Florida residents would end the practice, which has funneled more than $33 million in taxpayer money into political campaigns since 2010.

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Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Palm Coast, sponsored a resolution to put the proposed constitutional amendment on this year’s ballot. Hutson did not respond to multiple requests for comment. said during this year’s legislative session that abolishing public campaign financing would free up taxpayer dollars for other needs.

“This money comes from public revenue, and I think we should bring this issue back to the voters to see if they want us to spend public revenue on something other than advertising for public office throughout the state,” Hutson said at the Ethics and Elections Committee meeting.

According to the Senate bill analyzeMore than $13 million in taxpayer funds went to candidates for governor and three state Cabinet positions in 2022, the last time those positions appeared on the ballot. Gov. Ron DeSantis received more than $7 million in public funds to fuel his campaign, Raised approximately $200 millionHis Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, received more than $3 million in public funds.

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But critics of the amendment worry that eliminating public campaign finance would discourage people from running for office.

Ben Wilcox, a member of the board of directors of Common Cause Florida, told the Miami Herald that Amendment 6, if passed, would be detrimental to the integrity of elections and public policy.

“Corporations and wealthy individuals who donate to campaigns will have greater power to influence our elections,” Wilcox said. “Candidates who are unable to access this type of funding and rely on small donations from individuals will lose their chance to win and allow large campaign donors to have greater influence over public policy.”

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How does public campaign financing work in Florida?

In 1998, Florida voters enshrined in the state constitution the right for candidates running for governor and other state Cabinet positions to receive public funds to finance their campaigns.

The program provides candidates with matching funds from the state treasury on the condition that they impose modest limits on the amount of their campaign spending.

For example, gubernatorial candidates must agree to spend no more than $2 per registered voter, but can spend more if candidates who do not receive public funds exceed the same limit.

Only individual Florida residents who donate to a candidate’s official campaign account are eligible for matching funds, up to $250 per person. Contributions from corporations and political committees are not matched.

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Wilcox said public campaign financing has given more candidates the opportunity to run for office in Florida and has enabled candidates with fewer resources to be competitive in elections.

“When one candidate has access to significant campaign contributions and the other candidate doesn’t have access to such funds, public campaign financing can be a way to level the playing field for both candidates,” Wilcox said.

The last time Florida residents considered ending the program was in 2010, with a majority of voters wanting to eliminate it, but the ballot question failed because it did not receive 60% support.

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Wilcox believes Florida people will vote against Amendment 6 This fall, he again said there was no “public outcry” to eliminate public campaign financing. He could only speculate why lawmakers once again put the issue to a vote.

“I think some legislators are just philosophically opposed to public money in elections, and they may be beneficiaries of a system without public campaign finance,” Wilcox said. “They may benefit from large campaign contributions from wealthy people and large corporations, so they don’t see the need to compete fairly with candidates who don’t have access to such funds.”

While the initiative to abolish public campaign finance was pushed by Republican lawmakers, Wilcox said both Democratic and Republican candidates benefit from public campaign financing.

Wilcox said that when Floridians decide how to vote on Amendment 6, he hopes they ask themselves whether public policy should be based on the “public interest” or the “influence of wealthy corporations.”

“In Florida elections, corporations in the state routinely spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to support candidates, and those corporations expect a return on that money. They’re not going to give $100,000 for good government, they expect the government to treat them well,” Wilcox said.