Courting Controversy
Laura MacCleery of the Brennan Center writes in The Nation about the Supreme Court's hearing on the "millionaire's amendment" provision of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act, and what the Court's decision could mean for public financing laws, given its generally dim view towards campaign finance reform.The millionaire's amendment lets candidates who face opponents who write huge checks to their own campaigns to take contributions in amounts above federally established limits to "match" what the self-funded opponent is doing. The court's decision on this amendment may have consequences for the matching provisions of Clean Elections laws, which provide "fair fight funds" to publicly financed candidates who are significantly outspent by their privately financed opponents.