Campaign Finance Reform

Members of the Senate debated S.3, the Senate Election Ethics Act, or the Campaign Finance Reform bill. S.3 would set voluntary spending caps, based on each state’s voting age population, on congressional campaigns, and would grant advertising time and mailing privileges to candidates who comply with the spending limits. During the debate on the bill on May 22, the Senate considered several amendments to the original bill. An amendment introduced by Sen. McConnell that would remove public financing for congressional campaigns and voluntary spending limits from the bill was defeated in a vote of 56-42. The Senate also defeated a bill introduced by Sen. Kerry that would allow federal funds to pay for almost all the campaign costs for candidates obeying spending limits in a vote of 39-58. Additional amendments were introduced by Republicans who sought to undermine the original campaign reform bill, with no success. The Senate did pass an amendment introduced by Sen. Wellstone that limited close