Now that it looks very likely that Washington Governor Christine Gregoire will sign the Local Choice/Local Option bill into law and allow municipalities to pursue public financing options for their elections, members of the Seattle City Council are weighing a proposal to create a Clean Elections public financing program to cover their elections.

Both chambers of the Washington legislature have approved a bill that would allow municipalities to pursue Clean Elections laws to cover their own races. Referred to as a "local choice/local option bill" it lifts the prohibition against public financing of campaigns that was put in place in the early 90s. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) for her approval or veto.

Clean Elections supporters in Washington celebrated a victory yesterday with the passage of a bill lifting the decade-plus ban on publicly financed elections.  Called a Local Choice/Local Option bill, it repealed a ban put in place in 1992 and now opens the door for municipalities to introduce legislation creating full public financing systems for their elections.  Congratulations Washington!

The day after Christmas is a day to think about changing how we finance elections, or so two items from Washington and New Jersey would suggest.  Kathy DeNeui wants to see Clean Elections pass in Washington, while the Courier Post wants the Clean Elections pilot program in New Jersey to become a permanent part of state elections. Sounds like the makings of a few New Year's resolutions for state legislatures!

Nicole Brodeur, a columnist for the Seattle Times devotes her space today to Fair Elections Action Week, the wisdom of publicly financing campaigns, and the forum that Washington Public Campaigns will host tomorrow at the University of Washington about supporting public financing for state races.

The Columbian in Washington argues that public financing of elections isn't necessary -- all we need is better disclosure of contributions to campaigns. While the push for better disclosure requirements is well taken, the editorial misses some important points about the benefits of public financing.