Testimony
of
Rebekah Whilden
Organizer, Sierra Club DC Chapter
before the
Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety
Hearing on
Fiscal Year 2020 Budget for the Office of Campaign Finance
Thank you Councilmember Allen for holding this hearing on the budget of the Office of Campaign Finance. My name is Rebekah Whilden and the Organizer for the Sierra Club DC Chapter. The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest and largest environmental advocacy group. We have 10,000 members and supporters in DC.
The same big-money fossil fuel corporations polluting our air, water and climate are also polluting our democracy and flooding our political system with dirty money. The matching incentive implemented under the Fair Elections Act ensure that the voices of DC residents are heard over the influence of wealthy dirty energy corporations. In the District of Columbia, we rightfully protest our lack of democracy and voting rights in an otherwise democratic country.
The Sierra Club is excited that the Fair Elections program is up and running and that candidates can enroll now. The more candidates that sign up for the program, the more time they will be able to spend talking with residents about the issues that they care about. We hope that OCF is providing information about the Fair Elections program to every candidate that registers to run.
Now that the program is in place, we are looking forward to hearing about candidates that are opting in. We were thrilled to see the Fair Elections program on the OCF website but we hope that it will be more prominent to allow potential candidates and the general public to learn information about the program. OCF has said that its staff will be giving presentations at ANC meetings. The Sierra Club applauds this, but we also want to encourage them to present at community group meetings and public events like the H Street Festival, DC Fair, and the Anacostia Riverfest. We are happy to work with OCF to help coordinate meetings and educational opportunities for the general public. We want to ensure that there is a large investment in engagement for all residents of the District.
The Sierra Club is most excited by the five-to-one match, which is comparable to other states and jurisdictions that have passed public financing legislation. We would like to stress that the disbursement period for candidates getting the funding should be shortened. As OCF works to finalize the paperwork and payment process, we ask that the impact on participating candidates is kept at the forefront of decisions. We believe a shorter time-frame from paperwork submission to receiving payment is better and would reduce the burden on campaigns. I worked as a campaign manager or field director on four campaigns when I was living in North Carolina, so I know that if the waiting period remains what it is currently, campaigns can suffer. The total processing time, including OCF’s review and processing and disbursement should take no longer than 5 days.
As environmentalists we know that the Fair Elections program will give everyday DC residents the ability to support and elect candidates who are accountable to them, and give candidates the ability to run with the backing of the very people they wish to represent. While we won't eliminate big money overnight, we can dramatically reduce its influence and raise the importance of everyday residents in our political system. This way the candidate doesn't owe anyone any favors, and more everyday people in DC will be invested in the political process.