Centerfield

The Next Step in Campaign Finance Reform?

Leading sponsors of the now-victorious campaign finance bill -- Shays, Meehan, McCain, and Feingold -- have a next step in mind. They want to eliminate the Federal Election Commission, the agency charged with enforcing campaign finance rules and the body that originally opened the "soft money" loophole.

In its place, they see the following:

The four lawmakers want to replace it with a three-member panel.

The new Federal Election Administration would have a chairman and two other members appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The two members would come from different parties, and no appointee could come from the current FEC, have been a party employee, have been a candidate or officeholder or have worked for one.

Not a perfect plan -- the new agency would no doubt be subject to influence by the administration. On first blush, though, it seems like a good idea.

Posted by William Swann at December 12, 2003 12:44 PM