Photo by Amber Wilkie
A couple weeks ago, Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie’s (D-Ward 5) campaign finance reform bill was heard by a D.C. Council panel for the first time, and while it was ultimately supported, many thought it wasn’t strong enough. Among them? Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6). Before the bill was heard, Wells was quick to criticize it, saying that McDuffie’s measures to close the LLC loophole, which enables limited liability companies to make campaign contributions well in excess of individual limits. “There is no reason any D.C. mayoral candidate should accept a campaign donation that isn’t from an individual.” Anything less, Wells says, “is to betray the public trust already damaged by the shadow campaigns and scandals that continue to plague the city.”
Now, Wells has his own suggestions for how to make McDuffie’s bill stronger. According to a release, on Tuesday, Wells will introduce three amendments “aimed at bolstering the legislation to effectively put an end to the pay-to-play culture and nameless, faceless corporate funding on which politicians continue to rely.”
The first amendment would directly address the “pay-to-play culture,” by requiring disclosure for recipients of contributions from city government contractors and that all contractors applying for business in D.C. would be required to disclose any contributions they’ve made to elected officials:
“The amendment has two parts. First, it would create a disclosure requirement for recipients of contributions from District government contractors and their controlling ownership. Second, it would require that contractors applying for business with the District disclose contributions they have made to the city’s elected officials and for the Office of Campaign Finance to make public that information.
The other two amendments would prohibit candidates from accepting corporate and contractor contributions.
As of now, Wells is the only candidate running on a “clean money campaign,” wherein he refuses all contributions from PACs, corporations, and LLCs. He’s called on fellow candidates Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) and Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) to follow suit.
