VOICE advocates refuse to be stifled

The path to passing the Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections (VOICE) has been filled with a number of major obstacles, namely a deaf ear from the Democratic majority, which has killed the bill in committee twice since it took the helm two years ago. Nonetheless, a diverse group of issue-oriented activists pledge to keep pushing forward until their voices have been heard.

The VOICE bill, proposed in the Iowa Legislature as House File 805 and Senate File 553, would provide full voluntary public financing for candidates for statewide and legislative offices who refuse all outside contributions. The legislation is similar to laws already in place in Maine, Connecticut and Arizona.

“We’re building a VOICE coalition, which includes a diversity of groups advocating for different issues, who realize they cannot compete with ‘big business’ and their lobbyists because of the flawed campaign system,” Adam Mason, spokesman for Voter-Owned Iowa (a branch of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement), told more than 30 people gathered at the Iowa City Public Library Wednesday night. “Money is too influential in politics and is undermining all of our issues, not to mention our democracy.”

To help initiate this process, ICCI cosponsored the VOICE planning meeting with the Iowa Citizen Action Network to help organize and build the coalition and map out a strategy for passing the legislation during next year’s General Assembly session.

Thus far, the VOICE coalition has signed on 14 members, including the meeting’s sponsors, Common Cause Iowa, Iowa Renewable Energy Association, the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, Sustainable Ecological Economic Development, the League of Women Voters, Progressive Action for the Common Good, the Iowa Farmers Union, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, Iowa Conference United Methodist Church, Concerned Democrats of Polk County and the Progressive Coalition of Central Iowa.

First introduced eight years ago by Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, the VOICE billhas been dead on arrival. However, when the Democrats assumed the majority two years ago, the bills were lobbied to appropriations subcommittees in both chambers — which buried them before they could reach the respective floors for debate.

Johnson County residents attending the meeting were surprised to learn that two members serving on these committees, Sen. Bob Dvorsky and Rep. Dave Jacoby, both Democrats of Coralville, were accomplices in helping kill the bill the past two years. When contacted by constituents, they both contended they didn’t have enough votes to pass the bill, nor was there enough money in the budget to support the bill.

In the proposed legislation, money for VOICE would be appropriated from The Great Iowa Treasure Hunt revenues, which are generated by the sales of unclaimed properties.

Mason admitted that one of the biggest obstacles to passing VOICE is not only educating the public about what it is and what it is not, but explaining these nuances to lawmakers as well. “A number of our elected officials know very little about VOICE and tend to rely on general talking points when asked about their views on the clean-elections bill,” he said.

The other big obstacles standing in the way of VOICE, says Mason, is Gov. Chet Culver and the Democratic leadership, including Sen. Majority Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines and Speaker of the House Pat Murphy of Dubuque. “Our leaders ultimately set the agenda and decide what bills make it to the floor,” Mason said. “Somehow, we need to convince them that the people of Iowa want clean elections, and it will take a grassroots movement to force their hand.”

Despite some of the frustrations voiced by those in attendance, Mason, along with other attendees, remained optimistic about the future of VOICE — citing the passage of House File 580, a component of VOICE, during the last legislative session. That bill requires 527 groups in Iowa to file disclosure reports similar to those filed by candidates, political parties and PACs, if they engage in activities to influence elections. Before its passage, 527s (the name refers to a section of the U.S. tax code), were not required to disclose their funding or spending, but when the law takes effect in 2010, 527s will have to reveal how their money is being spent and who is contributing to their committees.