Pointless Reform

A slew of Democratic Delegates led by Delegate Jon Cardin have introduced HB1054, a bill to allow for the public financing of legislative elections. I cannot possibly think of the reason for introducing such a bill.

The bill would allocate $7.5 million towards a fund that would be available to legislative candidates that meet a certain criteria, raise a number of small donations and meet other seemingly pointless criteria.

What I do not understand is why we need to fund elections from the public treasury. $7.5 million seems like it could be much better spent on hiring new teachers for struggling schools than turning politicians and consultants loose with the money. Besides, how many times have you seen a legislative candidate win despite being tremendously outspent by an opponent, winning solely on grassroots support and shoe leather? It happens every year, will certainly happen again this year, and in every year from here into the future. These Democratic Delegates seem to be addressing a concern that nobody has. It is a pointless reform proposal that accomplishes nothing but feel-good press snippets.

In the meantime, Democratic candidates and leaders wonder why people are fed up with paying high taxes...