JANESVILLE – First District Congressman Paul Ryan today reiterated his support for a campaign finance reform proposal that bans soft money contributions to national political parties for federal election activities, including broadcast issue ads, while at the same time respecting freedom of speech and meeting the critical standard of constitutionality.

The measure Ryan supports has been offered by House Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney (R. – OH) and Congressman Albert Wynn (D. – MD)  It garnered such support last summer when the issue came before the House of Representatives that, rather than risk seeing their approach defeated in favor of the Ney-Wynn reform model, those pushing rival campaign finance reform legislation introduced by Congressmen Shays (R. – CT) and Meehan (D. – MA) ultimately voted to defeat a Rule that would have allowed the House to vote on the competing versions of reform.

Yesterday, supporters of the Shay-Meehan legislation secured enough signatures on a discharge petition to ensure that their bill will again be brought before the full House of Representatives in the coming months.  In view of this, Ryan reaffirmed his support for the Ney-Wynn alternative.

"There's no question our present campaign finance system is broken and needs fixing," Ryan said. "But there are right ways and wrong ways to tackle the problems with the current system.  I believe the Ney-Wynn bipartisan bill is a better alternative to Shays-Meehan because it contains a more effective ban on soft money and respects all citizens' freedom of speech."

The Shays-Meehan proposal contains a significant loophole in that it permits soft money to filter through state and local parties – ultimately reaching the national level.  For example, under Shays-Meehan, an individual or corporation could donate $10,000 each to an unlimited number of county or state parties. This money could be used at the federal level to fund a range of activities that do not mention a federal candidate.

"The idea that you are either for Shays-Meehan or against campaign finance reform is wrong," Ryan said. "Shays-Meehan is a well-intentioned but flawed bill.  I think the Ney-Wynn alternative is a  superior solution that will better withstand future legal challenges based on constitutionality."

"When I consider campaign finance reform, I look for four main things: an enforceable ban on soft money, full disclosure of funding, an approach that doesn't favor incumbents or one party, and respect for all citizens' freedom of speech. In my view, the Ney-Wynn bill is the best option currently on the table to advance these goals."

The Ney-Wynn measure:

• bans soft money contributions to national political parties for federal election activities, including broadcast issue ads;
• limits national party use of soft money to generic party voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, plus fundraising and overhead;
• bans soft money contributions of $75,000 or more to a national political party committee for any purpose;
• maintains the current $1,000 limit on hard money contributions from individuals to candidates;
• increases hard money contribution limits for contributions to political parties to partially account for inflation;
• requires disclosure within 24 hours to the FEC of name, address, phone number, list of officers, and the amount spent for ads by any group that purchases broadcast issue advertising that mentions a federal candidate within 120 days of a federal election; and
• requires disclosure to the FEC of identifying information about groups that spend over $50,000 for targeted mass communications that mention a federal candidate within 120 days of a federal election.