From The Champaign News Gazette

Spending limit proposed by GOP candidate for state House
   Published Online Aug 21, 2004
   By KATE CLEMENTS
   News-Gazette Capitol Bureau Chief
    SPRINGFIELD - Republican Deborah Frank Feinen has challenged state Rep.
Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, and Socialist Equality Party candidate Thomas
Mackaman to limit spending in their 103rd District House race to $200,000 each
between Sept. 1 and Election Day.
    "There are lots of reasons to do it, but I think the primary one is the
idea that it costs $500,000 to be elected in a district the size of
Champaign-Urbana is outrageous," Feinen said on Friday. "And I really believe that that
much money allows the focus to come away from issues and presents the
opportunity to the campaigns to really start smearing their opponents, and I don't
think that that's what elections should be about."
    Feinen said she sent letters to Jakobsson and Mackaman on Thursday,
asking them to sign a campaign spending limit pledge.
    On Friday, Jakobsson said she had not seen the letter yet and therefore
could not comment on the proposal.
    "I haven't received any communication from Deb, so this is the first I've
heard about it," Jakobsson said. "I'd certainly be interested in speaking to
her and Tom Mackaman and hear their thoughts. I'm certainly open to
discussion, but I haven't seen any of the details yet."
    Jakobsson started the year with $19,300 on hand and raised just more than
$16,000 in the first six months of the year, according to the State Board of
Elections. After spending about $4,000, she had approximately $31,400 on hand
as of June 30, according to the State Board of Elections.
    Feinen had about $9,800 in her campaign account on that date. She started
the year with almost $20,000 in her campaign account, raised about $17,700
and spent about $27,500 between Jan. 1 and June 30, according to the State Board
of Elections.
    Mackaman did not file a campaign finance disclosure report.
    Candidates only have to file with the State Board of Elections once they
reach the threshold of $3,000 in money that they raise or spend out of pocket
in a one-year period, according to John Levin, campaign disclosure specialist
with the State Board of Elections. The value of any in-kind contributions is
factored into that $3,000 threshold, Levin said.
    "Only the two parties of big business can call spending $200,000 for two
months on a local election a 'limit.' For the majority of us, that's a fortune
and a shameful waste of resources," Mackaman wrote in an e-mail to The
News-Gazette on Friday. "This pledge is a campaign gimmick and I'm not going to lend
it any credibility by signing."
    Mackaman may be running a low-budget campaign, but without a spending
agreement, campaign expenses for the other two 103rd District candidates could be
astronomical.
    The 2002 103rd District race, in which Jakobsson ousted former state Rep.
Tom Berns, was the single most expensive House race in the state that year,
with combined spending of $942,000, according to the Illinois Campaign for
Political Reform.
    Champaign-Urbana has seen plenty of other expensive races and failed
attempts at voluntary spending limits.
    In 2002, state Sen. Rick Winkel, R-Urbana, and his Democratic challenger,
Dan McCollum, met four times in an attempt to cement a deal on a spending
limit, but the talks ultimately failed.
    McCollum had originally proposed a cap on campaign spending, and the pair
appeared at one point to be in agreement on $115,200, the base salary for a
two-year term in the General Assembly. But negotiations broke down over
Winkel's insistence that half of the money come from inside the district, and that
contributions from political action committees and state party committees be
capped at $5,000.
    The race ended up costing a combined $1.483 million, making it one of the
top five most expensive Senate races of 2002, according to the Illinois
Campaign for Political Reform.
    Before that, Winkel offered to abide by a $100,000 limit in his 2000
House campaign, if his opponent, Urbana Mayor Tod Satterthwaite, would agree to
spend no more than $125,000. But the deal he proposed would have limited state
party contributions to $5,000, effectively cutting off a main source of
campaign cash for Satterthwaite.
    The two were unable to reach an agreement, and their race ultimately
topped $1 million in combined spending, making it one of the most expensive House
contests in the state in 2000.
    Negotiations for a spending limit also broke down in Winkel's 1996 race
against Kathleen Ennen.
    "I guess I'm hoping that it will be different this year," Feinen said.
    She said she is calling for only a flat spending limit, with no specific
requirements on how the money can be raised.
    "We certainly considered all of that, and I do think it is important to
raise money from within the district, but I was trying to propose something
that would be palatable for everybody," Feinen said. "I was trying to avoid all
of the issues that make it harder for people to agree."
   
   You can reach Kate Clements at (217) 782-2486 or via e-mail at
kclements@news-gazette.com.