House Bill No. 1609 has been endorsed by Lieutenant Governor Ronnie Musgrove, House Speaker Tim Ford, Attorney General Mike Moore, State Auditor Phil Bryant, State Treasurer Marshall Bennett, Insurance Commissioner George Dale, and Agriculture Commissioner Lester Spell. The final version was written by conference committee of three Republicans and three Democrats. Party politics have no place in the courtroom. This is a very strong bill.
Timing is also very important.
We need this bill now, before this year's judicial elections and next year's statewide elections. If we don't act now, we likely won't have tough laws governing a statewide election until 2003. That's too long to wait. Everyone knows we need campaign finance reform. In Washington D.C., Congress has once again killed attempts at reform.