With less than a month remaining to pass Clean Elections legislation in Maryland we're turning up the heat on the Senate, and particularly the leadership, to move the bill out of committee and to the floor for a vote. Yesterday Public Campaign, Progressive Maryland, and Common Cause Maryland convened a press conference at the state capitol to release new polling information, and unveil a new ad campaign targeting money flowing to Maryland legislators from electric utility companies.

Lots of coverage from yesterday's Maryland Senate committee hearing on the Clean Elections bill. Stories from the Baltimore Sun, The Daily Times, and the Baltimore Examiner quote Clean Elections supporters, the bill sponsor Sen. Paul Pinsky, and Sen. Joan Carter Conway, the chair of the committee before which the bill was heard on the merits of the bill and it's chances for passage.

Public Campaign President and CEO Nick Nyhart is testifying before the Maryland Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee today in support of SB 583, the bill that would allow candidates for the Maryland legislature to run using Clean Elections public financing for their campaigns. Nick's statement in advance of the hearing after the jump.

From victories in New Jersey, New Mexico, and North Carolina, to successful implementation of Clean Elections systems in New Jersey and Connecticut, it's been a great year for Clean Elections. The Fair Elections Now Act was introduced in the Senate by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and momentum is building in dozens of states to pass Clean Elections. Click here to view the Public Campaign holiday card. Thanks for all your support this year and just wait to see what happens in 2008!

USA Today has two letters today responding to their editorial last week in support of full public financing of campaigns, and the companion editorial against public financing written by the Center for Competitive Politics. One letter-writer supports public financing of campaigns, the other, our President and CEO Nick Nyhart, wants to set the record straight about arguments made against Clean Elections.

The FEC has decided to keep in place a ban on online contributions from committees like ActBlue from counting towards matching funds from the presidential public financing program (remember the letter we wrote about this last week). This is a disappointing decision; read commentary here on the decision and reactions to it, including comments from Public Campaign's president Nick Nyhart.