Public Financing of Campaigns

The Council has formed a Special Committee on Public Campaign Finance to review the legislative proposal sent to Council by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) for the establishment of a public campaign finance system. The Committee will deliberate and make a final decision as to whether to send a proposal for consideration by voters in the November general election.

Here are links to the Commission's proposal:

• Letter to the Council
• Proposal Framework and Details
• Four hypothetical outcomes under proposal

The Council's review will follow the schedule below, which is subject to change. Sign up to receive e-mail notifications about upcoming meetings here. All meetings will start at 2:30 p.m., or whenever the Full Council meeting concludes that day.

• Monday, April 29: Intro & SEEC Presentation; Central Staff Presentation
• Monday, May 13: Issue ID
• Tuesday, May 28: Decision Agenda I (on Tuesday due to Memorial Day)
• Monday, June 10: Decision Agenda II and Committee Vote
• Monday, June 17: Contingency Committee Vote Date

Earlier this year, the Council heard from officials that run public finance programs in other cities and from academics who have researched this topic.

January 31, 2013: Campaign Public Finance in practice (watch video)

• Los Angeles Matching Fund Program Presentation
• San Francisco Public Financing Program Presentation
• Portland Campaign Finance System Presentation

February 13, 2013: Campaign Public Finance in research (watch video)

• Presentation of Recent Research -- from University of Wisconsin 
• Memo on Public Financing of Elections -- from Brennan Center for Justice 

Background Information

In December 2012, Councilmembers Clark, Licata, O'Brien and Rasmussen sent a letter to the SEEC asking them to recommend a public financing model that meets the goals of increasing electoral competitiveness, reducing financial barriers to entry for candidates, and increasing the role and emphasis of small donors in the electoral process.

Important links

• 2008 report of the Campaign Finance Advisory Committee
• Resolution 31061

What is public campaign financing?
Public financing of campaigns is a system in which campaigns are funded in part with public dollars in order to increase electoral competitiveness and increase the role of small donors in the electoral process. All programs require candidates to raise funds from early supporters, which are then matched with public funds. It is an optional system in which candidates, both incumbents and challengers, can choose to participate. Municipal elections in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami currently use this system.


Considerations for campaign financing
In an effort to avoid a system where candidates only spend time talking to a smaller group of higher-dollar contributors, public financing is one way to allow candidates to broaden their campaign efforts with all voters.

Locally, Seattle's 2011 Election Report showed average campaign contributions reached an all-time high ($221), the number of small contributions (less than $100) fell to an all-time low (32 percent) and unspent campaign funds reached a new high. In addition, the average number of candidates per contested seat is trending downward, the average amount of money raised by the winning candidate has increased by 60 percent since 1995 and City incumbent re-election rate is at 84 percent since 1995.

In Nov. 2011, the Council passed Resolution 31337 outlining several issues for study, including how local elections are financed.


Seattle's history with public financing of campaigns
Seattle had partial public financing of election campaigns in 1979 and 1981, and from 1987-1991. In 1992, state Initiative 134 passed, prohibiting public financing. In 2008 the State legislature passed a law allowing local jurisdictions to establish programs to publicly finance campaigns, if approved by a public vote, and the funding is derived from local sources only.

The City Council responded by passing Resolution 31061, which set up a Campaign Public Financing Advisory Committee that recommended public financing of Seattle election campaigns. They recommended that the City Council place a measure on the November 2009 ballot for a public financing program, to go into effect for the 2011 election, with an estimated annual cost between $2.3 and $3.2 million. However, the Great Recession began and City revenues plummeted so the Council held off the vote indefinitely.