The Roanoke Times: Legislators Blew Chance at Campaign Finance Reform

The senseless invasion of Ukraine reminds us of how important an effective democracy is in preventing government overreach. When politicians don’t need to answer to the people, corruption and disorder ensue. As a political science major at Virginia Tech, I feel a moral imperative to ensure that our legislators, whether in Congress or in the Virginia General Assembly, take the high ground in passing good governance legislation.

Unfortunately, Virginia doesn’t perform well in terms of financial accountability. The S.W.A.M.P. index, compiled by the nonpartisan watchdog organization Coalition for Integrity, ranks our commonwealth at 46th among the states, mostly due to our lack of guardrails on campaign financing and disclosure.

In a poll completed last year by the Wason Center, large, bipartisan majorities of Virginians supported improving campaign fund transparency, limiting big donors, and prohibiting politicians’ personal use of campaign funds.

Although it was ruled in Citizens United that money is speech, it should not be, due to the fact that it sways Virginia elections, as well as public policies, to the advantage of deep-pocketed donors.

Some legislators deny this, but most voters see how the current unlimited access to big money benefits incumbents.

Last year, a subcommittee of legislators studied this issue in depth and a handful of committed lawmakers, including Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, introduced some promising bills.

With the introduction of 24 bills, some bipartisan, the expectation was high that reform was on the horizon. But as this year’s General Assembly session wound down, only four of the 24 campaign finance bills proposed remained standing.

Nearly 80% of Virginians support improvements in our campaign finance system, and should be disappointed when bills focused on disclosure, limits on campaign contributions and restrictions on personal use of campaign funds were voted down.

Inexplicably, Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, voted against every single campaign finance bill that went through the Finance Committee.

Those of us in the large, bipartisan group of Virginians who support campaign finance reform urge our legislators to pass legislation. Democracy is important, and it must be maintained with strong ethics, because true democracy can’t be bought.

— Kate Schiller, Blacksburg