Working Toward a “People’s Pledge” in RI

The “People’s Pledge” has been talked about so much lately in the last few days, you’re probably sick of hearing about it. But I noticed that it’d never been written about on the Ocean State Current, so I thought it’s as good a time as any to write about it.

The People’s Pledge is an idea that has been brought to RI by John Marion, the executive director of Common Cause. It is an agreement that has been used in elections a few times around the country but more locally during the Kerry vs. Weld and then Brown vs. Warren Senate campaigns. The goal of the pledge is to reduce the influence of independent outside spending in a campaign. The result of this outside spending usually takes campaigns in a negative direction and attacks a certain candidate or can distort the discussion of issues. The pledge pertains to when some group, any kind of group, spends money in their own name during a campaign. It does not affect the direct contributions to any single candidate.

How it works is when it is discovered that an outside group has spent money in a campaign on behalf of a candidate or in opposition of a candidate, the candidate who benefits must make a donation to the aggrieved candidate’s charity of choice, within three days. The donation must be at least 50% of the value of the money spent by the outside group. No one is exactly sure how this will work in a campaign with more than two candidates. For more details on one possible version of the pledge.

On January 1 of this year, Marion wrote an Op-Ed to the Providence Journal, where he wrote:

People’s Pledge can result in a campaign with less outside spending, more positive messages, smaller donations and less undisclosed spending.

Outside spending is legal, and to do so somewhat anonymously is allowed due to the Citizens United US Supreme Court decision.

Marion has invited all gubernatorial candidates to sit down and discuss a pledge where they can work to keep this outside spending away from Rhode Island, or at least to a minimum.

At this point, Marion is focusing on the three Democratic candidates and trying to get them to sit down together and negotiate an agreement among them. Keep in mind that whatever they agree to would still only be a “handshake agreement” and not legally binding.

Some of the questions or concerns that have been brought up by the campaigns include the money paid for the Seidle report that looked into Treasurer Raimondo’s pension reform or what will come of the PAC created (named American LeadHERship PAC) by Rhode Islander Kate Coyne-McCoy. A recent Edward Fitzpatrick column in the Providence Journal  touched on the first concern where he wrote:

A Raimondo spokesman called Taveras’ proposal a “charade,” saying “union leaders and special interests are already funding personal attacks” on her. He said she’d consider the pledge when Taveras donated to Crossroads RI the amount that unions paid Ted Siedle for a report blasting the Raimondo-led pension overhaul.

However, in the same article, Raimondo’s campaign manager Eric Hyers was quoted to say about the pledge:

“This is something we very much want. Citizens United is a disastrous decision that threatens to undermine our very democracy.”

The Taveras campaign has been reported to be very much in favor of the pledge, even since as early as October where the Journal’s Phil Marcelo wrote “Taveras calls on gubernatorial candidates to discourage super PAC spending.”  The article also included a linked PDF to a suggested pledge, the same one mentioned above.

As to the question about the American LeadHERship PAC, Coyne-McCoy was asked on Twitter about how her group will be affected if the candidates agree to the pledge, to which she responded: “too early to say

In speaking with each of the campaigns, Clay Pell spokesman Bill Fischer pointed out that Pell has vowed to not take any money from any PACs or lobbyists. In a press release, Pell’s campaign also noted: “For these past few months, challenges have been issued by various candidates and John Marion at Common Cause to sign a “People’s Pledge” to prevent Super PAC money from poisoning our elections. Clay agrees that this important matter must be addressed.”

Angel Taveras’ spokesman Danny Kedem said that Taveras is ready to sit down and get an agreement. He would like to use the pledge used in the Brown-Warren campaign as the model for this campaign’s agreement, calling it the “gold standard.” He referred to the Citizens United decision as an “abomination” and added that “we as Democrats need to preserve our values.” When asked about whether it would be a violation if another situation like the Ted Seidle report were to be repeated, as it was reportedly paid for by Rhode Island Council 94. He said a columnist paid by an organization to investigate pension reform is drastically different from Citizens United.

The spokesman for the Raimondo campaign had not yet responded to requests as of publishing time, but in an RIPR.org article by Ian Donnis, Raimondo’s campaign manager Eric Hyers was quoted: “We want an agreement that eliminates any and all outside spending,”

As for the GOP candidates, I am also still waiting to hear back from the Fung campaign after a few attempts to contact them. Marion is currently working on an agreement with the Democrats, so I’ll update with the views from the two Republican candidates, if and when I’m able to get both stances.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in The Ocean State Current, including text, graphics, images, and information are solely those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the views and opinions of The Current, the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, or its members or staff. The Current cannot be held responsible for information posted or provided by third-party sources. Readers are encouraged to fact check any information on this web site with other sources.

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