Seattle Press on Line - Council Body Votes To Raise Campaign Contribution Limits

Council Body Votes To Raise Campaign Contribution Limits

Oct 04, 2000 -- A committee of the Seattle City Council voted 3-2 in favor of a $600 campaign contribution limit for city elections September 22nd. Councilmembers Margaret Pageler, Jan Drago and Richard Conlin voted in favor of the increased limit; councilmembers Peter Steinbrueck and Nick Licata were opposed in the action in the Legislative Department and Intergovernmental Affairs committee.

The proposal would raise contribution limits for candidates for Mayor, City Council, and City Attorney by 50 percent, from $400 per four-year election cycle to $600 per cycle. The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission had recommended increasing the donation limit to $800 in its Majority Report, by a 3-2 vote, with two members absent.

Licata said, "Raising the donation limit to $600 or $800 will result in candidates focusing more time on large donors; thus, the importance of smaller donors will diminish. Increasing the donation limit will not level the playing field. Only those donors who already donate $400 are likely to be able to give more if the limit is doubled."

The higher limit favors candidates able to secure maximum donations from a large number of donors, Licata said.

A recent study by the Washington Forum, a non-partisan public interest research center, found that an increase in contribution limits would give an added advantage to incumbents. The study examined all city council incumbent/challenger races from 1997-1999, and assumed that half of the $400 contributors to either candidate would become $800 contributors if the limit were raised. In that case, incumbents would have received an additional $63,000, but challengers only $11,000. Board members of Washington Forum include Brian Livingston, founder of the Civic Foundation, attorney Victoria Pearson and former Microsoft executive Bruce McKinney.

According to Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission figures, the total amount of contributions raised and expenditures made by city council campaigns reached one million dollars In the last city council election, for the first time. In 1995, the total amount of city council campaign contributions raised was $718,444 and expenditures were $753,896. In 1997, $838,816 was raised and $860,406 was spent; and in 1999, $1,110,780 was raised and $1,112,164 was spent.

In the city council races there is an increasing reliance on large contributions as a source of campaign funding. The average contribution size jumped significantly this year, from $88 in 1995 and $94 in 1997 to over $107 in 1999, an increase of 14 percent from 1997, far in excess of inflation. At the same time, the number of contributors decreased. In 1995 there were 10,183 contributors to city council candidates. The number of contributors dropped to 9,382 in 1997 and to 9,069 in 1999.

Committee Chair Margaret Pageler has scheduled a City Council public hearing on donation limits on Thursday afternoon, October 5, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The hearing will be in the City Council Chambers, on the 11th floor of the Municipal Building at 600 4th Avenue, between Cherry and James.

A final vote could take place the following Monday, October 9.

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