Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Campaign Finance Reform on Table

The D.C. Council heard Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie’s (D-Ward 5) campaign-finance reform bill, a legislation package to close loopholes and increase transparency nearly two years in the making in response to several high-profile corruption cases, last week.

The bill would close the LLC loophole, which allows certain business owners to contribute more money to campaigns by donating through multiple corporations. It would also increase transparency in donation-bundling, through which individuals collect contributions from their personal or professional networks, according to The Washington Post.

“There have been certain issues in the District’s campaign finance system that are long overdue for legislative attention,” McDuffie told The Hoya. “I set my sights on these reforms to help restore the public’s trust in District elections.”

However, that trust has been affected by the ongoing federal investigation into Mayor Vincent Gray’s 2010 campaign on corruption charges and the conviction of former Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. for embezzlement in 2012, which led to his resignation.

McDuffie hopes closing the LLC loophole will level the playing field for businesses and individual donors.

“By closing the loophole, business owners and ordinary campaign contributors will be on relatively equal footing,” McDuffie said. “The LLC issue is really about fairness and combating the appearance that businesses have more weight in the political process than regular people.”

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson believes the transparency aspect of the bill is critical.

“What is more important is that the public knows who’s contributing,” Mendelson told The Hoya.

However, D.C. mayoral candidate and Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) thinks the bill’s reforms should be more restrictive.

“There is no reason any D.C. mayoral candidate should accept a campaign donation that isn’t from an individual,” Wells stated in a press release.

Other councilmembers, including Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), Vincent Orange (D-Ward 5) and David Catania (I-At Large), agreed that the reform could be stricter. Bowser, for example, expressed concern that the $100 limit the bill establishes for cash and money-order donations is too high.

However, the councilmembers said they would still support the bill at the hearing.

“I’m hopeful that the bill will go through, and at this point, I see no reason why it wouldn’t,” Mendelson said.

But Mendelson maintains that true change in D.C.’s ethically questionable campaign-finance history will come from the voters, not the laws.

“What’s more important is the ethical fiber of the people elected,” Mendelson said. “What’s important is that we not only outlaw bribery, but we also elect people who will not accept bribes.”

“We can’t legislate how people vote,” he added. “But it needs to become a part of the dialogue.”

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