D.C. Council to Debate Emergency Legislation on Campaign Finance Reform

D.C. Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie said he will introduce emergency legislation to bar contributions to political action committees during non-election years in an effort to close what some view as a major campaign finance loophole before the start of 2017.

“It’s important that we address the issue as soon as possible, before Jan. 1,” McDuffie (D-Ward 5) said. “There’s a lot of support for it from what we’ve seen from the public in general.”[...]

Separate research compiled by Demos, a liberal public-policy organization, found that campaign contributions during the 2014 election disproportionately represented rich white donors: 59 percent of contributors to council campaigns earn more than $100,000 a year, compared with a quarter of D.C.’s overall population. And about two-thirds of donors are white, while the city’s white population is 37 percent.[...]