While some reformers believe that campaign finance reform will cure many of the ills of our election process, others feel the key is proportional representation, or other, related reforms.  Some have begun to question the very equipment we use to vote. Continue reading

As Greg LeRoy (GoodJobsFirst)points out, "As states grapple with their worst deficits in more than half a century, policymakers seek better data to help with budgeting decisions. But most states spend the bulk of their economic development budgets almost invisibly, in uncollected taxes, a.k.a. ‘tax expenditures.’" Continue reading

In the United States, candidates for public office have always needed money to run for public office. To get it they have often depended on wealthy contributors expecting favors in return. In 1971, the federal government passed the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), in an attempt to combat this phenomenon. The FECA (which was amended several times until 1979) put a cap on the amount a single donor could contribute to a campaign for federal government, and required public disclosure of these contributions. Continue reading