Progressive Voices

There's a Chinese proverb that says a "crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind."  Former President John F. Kennedy used to remind people that the Chinese word for "crisis" was spelled by combining the characters for "danger" and "opportunity." White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel quipped famously at the beginning of the year that "you never want a serious crisis to go to waste."

It's true that crises can provide opportunities for progressive change and needed reform. The current one has helped precipitate calls for a tax overhaul here in North Carolina and inspired a reworking of health care nationally. But crises can just as easily be-and perhaps more often are-opportunities for the powerful to do things that under normal circumstances would be unconscionable (remember what happened after September 11^th and Hurricane Katrina). During tough times it becomes even more important than it usually is (and it's usually pretty important!) to maintain and expand systems that increase accountability and trust in government.

As legislators take state programs to the chopping block, as our tax code is re-written, and as more corporate incentives are doled out in an attempt to create jobs, we as citizens should be able to trust the decisions our government leaders make.

In North Carolina we have made investments in structures that help increase trust and confidence by ensuring that state leaders make decisions without the influence of campaign donations. These systems of public campaign financing allow candidates to refuse all PAC money and large donations and rely instead on small donors and the public for support.  The programs, which are available for appellate courts and some of our Council of State offices, have undoubtedly increased public confidence in the integrity of state government. If insurance rates go up, we don't have to wonder if our current Commissioner of Insurance is making the decision because of the influence of large campaign contributors his money came instead from small donors and the public. If our state Supreme Court is hearing an important case, we no longer have to worry about whether the justices received campaign money from the lawyers or plaintiffs arguing before them, because the majority of these justices received financing from a blind, public trust. 

As our State Treasurer debates how to manage a $60 billion pension fund recovering from recent losses and our Commissioner of Labor investigates what caused the explosion at the Con-Agra plant yesterday (and whether the company's five previous citations should have been stiffer), it would be reassuring to know that these elected leaders had been publicly financed as well.

Come 2012, they could be. If a bill being considered this year passes, our Council of State public financing program will be expanded to five additional offices, including top regulatory offices like the State Treasurer and Commissioner of Labor. The proposal would cover eight of the ten Council of State offices (all but Governor and Lt. Governor), and allow candidates running as early as 2012 to receive public financing in exchange for agreeing to strict spending and fundraising limits and proving widespread community support.

All the signs so far say this bill has a fair shot of becoming law. 

Many of our state's current Council of State members support expanding the program, including Commissioner of Insurance Wayne Goodwin, State Treasurer Janet Cowell, State Auditor Beth Wood, and Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson. Our state's largest newspapers have editorialized in support of the bill and thousands of civic leaders and large campaign donors have joined a call from former U.S. Senator Robert Morgan and former Governor Jim Hunt to support the expansion. 

But it could easily be put off if citizens don't demand it, and legislators don't hear from advocates representing a diverse group of constituencies. It's important to keep the drum beating over the next few weeks. To succeed we need people to attend our statewide lobby day on June 17^th and let state legislators know that North Carolinians from across all walks of life support these smart and prudent reforms.

Restoring confidence to our Council of State offices may seem like one small step, but it will help set the stage for much larger and wider reform that would change the culture of power in Raleigh. By the time the next crisis rolls around, we may just have a Clean Elections-funded legislature that is more accountable to the public and less dependent on special interests for campaign cash. That crisis could bring with it some real opportunity.

Chase Foster is the Director of NC Voters for Clean Elections  

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 7:02 am and is filed under Progressive Voices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.