Issue Position: Reforming Washington

Issue Position

Campaign Finance and Government Reform: Freeing Congress from Special Interests, Shining Light on Government

What's Wrong

Our campaign finance system is broken. The last decade has demonstrated how the influence of corporate special interests bankrupts American families. From the pharmaceutical lobby to the big banks on Wall Street, narrow corporate interests have spent billions of dollars preserving a status quo that works only for them.

While the campaign coffers of D.C. politicians are flush with corporate cash, Americans have seen their health care costs double, their jobs shipped overseas, and future generations saddled with record budget deficits.

It's the most open secret in Washington: pay-to-play politics, sweetheart deals and wasteful programs often go hand-in-hand with deep-pocketed campaign contributors.
Alexi's Plan to Make it Right

From day one as Illinois State Treasurer, Alexi has demonstrated his unwavering commitment to ethical public service. His very first action was to sign the strongest ethics order in state government. At a time when other Illinois politicians were playing the typical political game, Alexi barred campaign contributions from contractors, employees and banks. He also passed legislation requiring his office to post monthly investment data online for the public.

As Senator, Alexi will continue to take bold action to clean up our campaign process and to ensure that Congress is committed to citizens, not its largest campaign contributors.
Denying Access for Special Interests

* Alexi is the first U.S Senate candidate in Illinois history to refuse campaign contributions from federal lobbyists and corporate PACs.

Shining a Light on Government

* Alexi will support sound legislation that aims to make government more transparent. He firmly believes that an open government will help restore the public's trust in elected officials and make it easier for taxpayers to hold their leaders accountable.
* As a Senator, Alexi would spearhead the effort to create a public "contracts and influence" database. This database would allow people just like you to track campaign contributions made by government contractors and the services they provide.
* Alexi will work to dramatically increase lobbyist disclosure requirements. The current lobbyist disclosure system in the Senate is unclear and provides little information to the public about who is actually lobbying the Senate. Alexi believes that Americans deserve to know who is influencing legislation, and his plans for a revamped lobbyist disclosure database will help make that happen.

Public Financing of Elections

* Across the country, states and local governments have implemented publicly financed campaigns. Public financing of elections limits runaway spending and reduces the influence of special interest money in the campaign process.
* As Senator, Alexi will strongly support and co-sponsor The Fair Elections Now Act, introduced by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. The Fair Elections Now Act alters the campaign finance system for federal candidates and allows ordinary citizens who do not have massive wealth or connections to play a bigger role in the electoral process.

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