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Tax-Financed Campaigns: A Speech-Chilling, Costly, and Failed Policy
January 1, 2018  •  By IFS Staff  •    •  

Tax-financed campaigns are government-operated programs that seek to replace or supplement private, voluntary campaign contributions with government grants of taxpayer dollars to candidates who meet certain requirements. These programs, often tagged with euphemistic names such as “democracy dollars” or “clean elections,” take many forms. Some provide tax dollars to candidates based on the donations they’ve received while other programs provide…

Oregon H.B. 2578; Taxpayer-Financed Campaigns – A Failed and Costly Policy
April 6, 2017   •  By Matt Nese   •  , ,

On behalf of the Center for Competitive Politics (the “Center”), I respectfully submit the following comments concerning myriad policy issues with House Bill 2578, ...

“Clean Elections” May Provide Taxpayer Funding for Anti-Semitism
March 22, 2017   •  By Alex Baiocco   •  ,

Does using taxpayers’ hard-earned money to fund speech they fundamentally disagree with reduce corruption in government? This may seem like a preposterous question, but ...

Demos Study Doesn’t Prove Donors Control Politics, But it Suggests Government Should
February 21, 2017   •  By Joe Albanese   •  , , ,

The progressive advocacy group Demos released a study examining the demographics of the “elite donor” class, arguing that its makeup unfairly shapes policy formation ...

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v. Brown
December 15, 2016   •  By IFS staff   •  , ,

Can state legislators overturn the will of the people in order to institute tax-financed campaigns? Under California law, the Institute for Free Speech believes ...

Issue One Launches Plan to “Return Government to the American People” By Empowering Government
December 14, 2016   •  By Joe Albanese   •  , ,

On Wednesday morning, the self-styled campaign finance “reform” group Issue One hosted an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The event, ...

Letter to California Governor Jerry Brown on Constitutional Issues with S.B. 1107
September 9, 2016   •  By David Keating   •  , ,

On behalf of the Center for Competitive Politics, I urge you to veto Senate Bill 1107, which amends the Political Reform Act of 1974 ...

Maine Activists Embrace Taxpayer Subsidies for Politicians in Ignorance of Systemic Flaws
September 9, 2016   •  By Joe Albanese   •  ,

In Maine, some speech regulatory activists are already celebrating the 2016 election cycle as an important milestone. Not because they are expecting higher voter ...

Analysis of the “South Dakota Government Accountability and Anti-Corruption Act” (2016 Initiated Measure 22)
August 25, 2016   •  By Eric Wang   •  , , ,

This November, South Dakotans will be asked to approve or reject ten statewide ballot questions. Among these is Initiated Measure 22, which would make ...

Letter to the California Fair Political Practices Commission on Proposed SB 1107 Amendment
July 20, 2016   •  By David Keating   •  , ,

SB 1107 proposes to amend the Political Reform Act by enacting a change to the flat prohibition of Government Code section 85300 on the ...

Who’s in on the Dirty Secret behind Tax-Financed Campaigns?
April 23, 2016   •  By Scott Blackburn   •  ,

A little-noticed, but interesting op-ed from Public Citizen lobbyist Craig Holman appeared in The Washington Post recently advocating for tax-financed campaigns in Washington D.C. ...

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