As Barack Obama and John McCain debate how to raise money in the presidential race, New Hampshire officials are appointing a panel to study how the state could adopt public financing for State Senate and Executive Council races. Advocates say public financing would enrich democracy by enabling low-income candidates to compete with well-funded rivals. Opponents counter that public financing is an attack on free speech that takes money and power away from citizens and gives it to the state. We’ll get the latest on campaign finance and hear about reforms in other states.
- Shawn Jasper, Republican State Representative from Hudson
- Jim Rubens, former Republican State Senator and member of the Commission to Study the Feasibility of Public Funding of State Election Campaigns
- Mal Leary, a reporter for the Capitol News Service in Augusta, Maine
- Jim Splaine, Democratic State Representative from Portsmouth, member of the Election Law Committee, and author of HB 794, which created the Commission
