Los Angeles City Council might ease Rules for Candidates to get Campaign Matching Funds

The Los Angeles City Council might make some major changes that could lower the requirement for a candidate to receive taxpayer matching campaign funds, while also increasing the amount that candidates could get. The existing rules in the city for a candidate to receive taxpayer matching campaign funds is that the candidates must collect donations from at least 200 donors. The new changes under consideration would lower the number of required donors to 100, while increasing the maximum amount of matching funds each candidate can receive. If the new changes take effect, it would significantly increase the rate at which city candidates receive them. Councilman David Ryu, who co-introduced a motion calling for some of the changes, stated the following,

The future of Los Angeles should be decided by all Angelenos, not just the ones with the largest checks. Increasing the matching funds rate empowers new voices in our political discourse and amplifies the influence of everyday Angelenos six-fold. I’m so thankful to my colleagues on the City Council for making this effort a reality.

The new rule changes would let all qualified candidates receive a match rate of 6:1 in the primary and the general, and the total amount candidates can receive in matching funds would also increase. The new rule changes would also eliminate the need for candidates to get signatures in order to quality for matching funds. Currently, if a qualified candidate collects 500 valid signatures during the nominating petition process, that person receives a match rate of 1:1 in the primary and the general election. If a qualified candidate collects 1,000 valid signatures, that person receives a match rate of 2:1 in the primary and 4:1 in the general. We will have to wait and see if the new changes go into effect.

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