At the state level, however, voters across the country have passed reform initiatives by overwhelming margins. Since then, reformers seeking to cap campaign spending have depended on voluntary limits agreed to by candidates in exchange for public financing and media discounts. Florida, Minnesota, and Rhode Island have already enacted such measures. In California, Common Cause is sponsoring an initiative allowing candidates to receive larger individual gifts if they agree to a total spending limit. In Maine, a landmark initiative to provide full public financing for campaigns is likely to be on the November 1996 ballot.
People are just tired of money buying influence.
There are nearly 4,000 registered PACs. In the 1994 election, they accounted for 40 percent of donations to winning candidates. Because most PAC money goes to incumbents, notes Gary Ruskin of Public Citizen's Congressional Accountability Project, eliminating PACs evens the playing field for challengers. Both the Oregon and Missouri laws face legal opposition claiming they violate the right to free speech. Disclosure Some who oppose any limits on giving, instead propose that all political money be open to scrutiny.