GROUP TOUTS PROP A REFORMS AT STOP HERE

Missourians will have a chance to decide Nov. 8 whether they want to further restrict contributions to political candidates.

A campaign finance caravan touring the state stopped briefly in front of Cape Girardeau City Hall Friday to discuss the need for campaign finance reform and Proposition A, which will be on the election ballot.

"We think that if people know about the opportunity for the reforms that Proposition A offers, they will pass it overwhelmingly," said Andy Ingrejas, a member of Missourians Public Interest Research Group (MOPIRG). "The staggering amounts of money in politics distort our democratic system in a number of ways."

Ingrejas said the point of the tour is to educate the public about how Prop A will change that.

"It's time to get the big money influence out of the election process," Ingrejas said.

The campaign finance proposal by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), would impose far more drastic curbs on campaign donations than a law passed this year and enacted by Gov. Mel Carnahan. That law created contribution limits in Missouri for the first time.

The legislature's reform package, SB 650, allows contributions as high as $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000 from individuals, groups or PACs, depending on the size of the election district, and a "war chest" of $750,000 in the governor's race.

Proposition A attacks this problem at its source. It sharply limits campaign contributions to $100 or $200 depending on the size of the election district, and $300 for statewide races. It also limits the size of the funding "war chests" that incumbents are allowed to carry over from one election to the next to $3,000.

"We feel this will encourage more people to file as candidates and make the races more even," he said.

Prop A, added Ingrejas, is an opportunity for Missourians to express their outrage that there is way too much money in politics.

"It's an opportunity for people to let big money and special interests know that we're not happy with the influence they have," he said. "The average Missourian has felt locked out of the system."

One example of big spending reported by the MOPIRG group was that of a political contributor who donated more than $200,000 to a governor's campaign and $100,000 in a county executive's race.

"There was a 224 percent increase in fund raising for state Senate primaries form 1988 to 1994," Ingrejas said. "Proposition A would reverse this inflationary trend."

Proposition A would enact the same limits on PACs as on individuals and parties and would be limited to $300 contributions for statewide races.

Ingrejas said the ACORN organization is depending on organizations and grass-roots support. He said United We Stand America and the League of Women Voters support the ACORN proposal.