Senate breaks filibuster on campaign finance reform; battle moves to the house - U.S. Senate

The U.S. Senate voted 62 to 37 on June 16 to end the Republican filibuster blocking action on S.3, the first time in 19 years that campaign finance reform advocates successfully broke a filibuster.

Senate Republicans used filibusters and threatened filibusters to block campaign finance reform throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Last year, they relied on President Bush to veto the comprehensive campaign finance reform bill passed by Congress.

This year, CC members in the states of key senators lobbied throughout the spring and with increasing intensity right up until the filibuster vote. The pressure by activists, volunteers and staff from the state and national offices was instrumental in persuading seven Republican senators to break ranks with their party leaders and end the filibuster.

Ending the filibuster was a key breakthrough in the long battle for campaign finance reform, but it also came at a serious price. The seven Republican senators who voted to end the filibuster insisted in return that a critical element of reform be dropped, the publicly funded communication vouchers, which challengers could use to buy TV or radio time and pay for mailings. These resources are necessary to remove special interest money from the system and to provide Senate challengers with a greater opportunity to compete.

S.3 includes a number of other important measures to make elections fairer for challengers. If the spending limits in S.3 had been in effect during the 1992 campaigns, for example, Senate incumbent spending would have been cut by one-third, or $37 million. The bill's PAC restrictions would have greatly reduced the financial advantages of incumbents - who outraised challengers $38.3 million to $6.4 million in PAC funds - and eliminated at least two-thirds of incumbents' PAC money.

The bill would bar incumbents from sending franked mass mailings during election years. And the discount broadcast and mail provisions would provide challengers with $20 million in new resources.

In addition, the Senate bill would shut down two of the biggest abuses of the current system, the soft money and bundling loopholes, and would restrict contributions by lobbyists.

In spite of these important reform provisions, and even with most of the direct public campaign resources removed from the bill, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) continued their effort to kill the bill with a filibuster. CC President Fred Wertheimer called their unsuccessful effort "a defense of the corrupt status quo and a grave disservice to the country."

Common Cause will continue to fight for public campaign resources as the legislation moves forward in Congress. The legislative battle and Common Cause's grassroots activities will now shift to the House, which is expected to take up a campaign finance reform bill this fall (see pages 30-3 1).

Lobby Disclosure

On May 6 the Senate passed S.349, the Lobby Disclosure Act of 1993, which included a CC-supported amendment by Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) requiring lobbyists to disclose on a member-by-member basis the financial benefits they provide to members of Congress and their staffs. Because representatives, senators and their top aides frequently receive trips, tickets, gifts and other benefits from lobbyists, there is intense resistance in Congress to requiring such disclosure. While CC supports an outright ban on these benefits, it is working to ensure that, until a complete ban is enacted, these benefits are disclosed in a comprehensive and meaningful way. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) has introduced a gifts ban bill in the Senate.

Reps. Eric Fingerhut (D-Ohio) and Karen Shepherd (D-Utah), co-chairs of the House freshman Democratic reform task force, have taken the lead on strong lobby reform measures in the House. They have introduced legislation that includes the Wellstone lobby disclosure provisions and a gifts ban for members of Congress and their staffs.

National Governing

Board Meets

The CC National Governing Board met in Washington June 12-13. The board reelected Ned Cabot as CC Chair for a two-year term beginning in February 1994 and approved Cabot's nomination of Fred Wertheimer to another term as president of the organization.

The board approved Cabot's nomination of two individuals to the board: George D. Goodman, executive director, Michigan Municipal League, Ann Arbor, Mich., a former member of the CC National Governing Board; and Arturo Vargas, vice president, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), Los Angeles, Calif., a current member of the state board of California Common Cause.

The board also elected the following officers: Ann McBride, senior vice president; Nick Ucci, vice president for finances and management, and treasurer; Susan Manes, vice president for issue development; Deborah Baldwin, vice president for publications; Dorothy Cecelski, secretary; Randy Huwa, vice president for financial development and planning; Jane Mentzinger, vice president for membership and communications; Jay Hedlund, vice president for grassroots lobbying; and Mike Mawby, vice president for legislation.

The board approved several recommendations endorsing the principle of extending civil rights protections to gay and lesbian Americans, supporting elimination of the ban on gays and lesbians in the military, and adding opposition to discrimination based on sexual orientation to the list of "pre-approved" issues for Common Cause state organizations to address.

The board approved the recommendations of its Working Group on the Long-Term Finances of Common Cause, which modified some existing policies on fundraising and endorsed some new fundraising approaches.

Nominations Sought for Governing Board

The Nominating Committee of the National Governing Board is seeking candidates for election to the 60- member board. The board plays a central role in establishing CC's organizational policies and priorities. Nominees should be able to attend three two-day meetings a year. Members serve three-year terms.

The Nominating Committee will select 30 names from those suggested. Nominations must be postmarked by November 12. Other candidates may run for the board by gathering the signatures of at least 20 CC members. (It's a good idea to have more than 20 signatures because new signatures cannot be substituted for any found invalid.) Two individuals may sign for each family membership. Petitions must be postmarked by November 12.

The names of those selected by the Nominating Committee, plus the names of all petition candidates, will appear on the ballot sent in early 1994 to CC members who will, in turn, elect the 20 new board members.

Send nominations to Dorothy Cecelski, Secretary of the National Governing Board, Common Cause, 2030 M St., NW, Washington. D.C. 20036. She may be called collect at the national office, (202) 833-1200, with questions or suggestions.

SENATE VOTES ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

Column one records the June 16 vote to end the filibuster; column two the June 17 vote to pass S.3. In both cases, a "Y" represents the CC-backed position. In addition, senators in bold type championed public campaign resources by voting for an unsuccessful amendment offered by Sen. John Keny (D-Mass.) to strengthen the public resources in the bill.

ALABAMA

  Heflin                       Y          N
  Shelby                       N          N

ALASKA

  Murkowski                    N          N
  Stevens                      N          N

ARIZOUA

  DeConcini                    Y          Y
  McCain                       Y          Y

ARKANSAS

  Bumpers                      Y          Y
  Pryor                        Y          Y

CALIFORNIA

  Boxer                        Y          Y
  Feinstein                    Y          Y

COLORADO

  Campbell                     Y          Y
  Brown                        Y          Y

CONECTICUT

  Dodd                         Y          Y
  Lieberman                    Y          Y

DELAWARE

  Biden                        Y          Y
  Roth                         N          N

FLORIDA

  Graham                       Y          Y
  Mack                         N          N

GEORGIA

  Nunn                         Y          Y
  Coverdell                    N          N

HAWAII

  Akaka                        Y          Y
  Inouye                       Y          Y

IDAHO

  Craig                        N          N
  Kempthorne                   N          N

ILLINOIS

  Moseley-Braun                Y          Y
  Simon                        Y          Y

INDIANA

  Coats                        N          N
  Lugar                        N          N

IOWA

  Harkin                       Y          Y
  Grassley                     N          N

KANSAS

  Dole                         N          N
  Kassebaum                    Y          Y

KENTUCKY

  Ford                         Y          Y
  McConnell                    N          N

LOUISINA

  Breaux                       Y          Y
  Johnston                     Y          Y

MAINE

  Mitchell                     Y          Y
  Cohen                        Y          Y

MARYLAND

  Mikulski                     Y          Y
  Sarbanes                     Y          Y

MASSACHUSETTS

  Kennedy                      Y          Y
  Kerry                        Y          Y

MICHIGAN

  Levin                        Y          Y
  Riegle                       Y          Y

MINNESOTA

  Wellstone                    Y          Y
  Durenberger                  Y          Y

MISSISSIPPI

  Cochran                      N          N
  Lott                         N          N

MISSOURI

  Bond                         N          N
  Danforth                     N          N

MONTANA

  Baucus                       Y          Y
  Burns                        N          N

NEBRASKA

  Exon                         Y          Y
  Kerrey                       Y          Y

NEVADA

  Bryan                        Y          Y
  Reid                         Y          Y

NEW HAMPSHIRE

  Gregg                        N          N
  Smith                        N          N

NEW JERSEY

  Bradley                      Y          Y
  Lautenberg                   Y          Y

NEW MEXICO

  Bingaman                     Y          Y
  Domenici                     N          N

NEW YORK

  Moynihan                     Y          Y
  D'Amato                      N          N

NORTH CAROLINA

  Faircloth                    N          N
  Helms                        N          N

NORTH DAKOTA

  Conrad                       Y          Y
  Dorgan                       Y          Y

OHIO

  Glenn                        Y          Y
  Metzenbaum                   Y          Y

OKLAHOMA

  Boren                        Y          Y
  Nickles                      N          N

OREGON

  Hatfield                     N          N
  Packwood                     N          N

PENNSYLVANIA

Wofford Y Y

Specter RHODE ISLAND

  Pell                         Y          Y
  Chafee                       Y          Y

SOUTH CAROLINA

  Hollings                     Y          N
  Thurmond                     N          N

SOUTH DAKOTA

  Daschle                      Y          Y
  Pressler                     Y          Y

TENNESSEE

  Mathews                      Y          Y
  Sasser                       Y          Y

TEXAS

  Gramm                        N          N
  Hutchison                    N          N

UTAH

  Bennett                      N          N
  Hatch                        N          N

VERMONT

  Leahy                        Y          Y
  Jeffords                     Y          Y

VIRGINIA

  Robb                         Y          Y
  Warner                       N          N

WASHINGTON

  Murray                       Y          Y
  Gorton                       N          N

WEST VIRGINIA

  Byrd                         Y          Y
  Rockefeller                  Y          Y

WISCONSIN

  Feingold                     Y          Y
  Kohl                         Y          Y

WYOMING

  Simpson                      N          A
  Wallop                       N          N
Y = Voted Yes   N = Voted No   - = Did Not Vote   A = Announced Against
              Democrats listed in Roman. Republicans listed in Italic.

COPYRIGHT 1993 Common Cause Magazine
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