campaign. Or if in a household where the man and wife both work, and their combined sole income is $25,000 then maybe the candidate should be able to deduct say 50 percent or 70 percent of personal funds. There may be problems to be ironed out, but I believe that giving greater tax relief to D.C. candidates will allow all serious citizens to fully participate in campaigning for an elective office. Thank you. Mr. FAUNTROY. Thank you, Mr. Hernandez. Any questions? Mr. HOGAN. Mr. Hernandez, would you approve of a lobbying amendment in this bill that would require individuals who appear before the Council to do business with the District Government to register and report the source of their income? Mr. HERNANDEZ. Yes, I would. Mr. HOGAN. Would you favor the insertion of a conflict of interest provision in this bill? Mr. HERNANDEZ. Yes, definitely. Mr. HOGAN. Thank you, Mr. Hernandez. Mr. FAUNTROY. Thank you, Mr. Hernandez. Ladies and gentlemen, this brings us to the close of our hearing. We want to again remind you the record will remain open for 2 weeks, and with that we will close the hearing. [Whereupon, at 12:45 p.m., the subcommittee recessed to reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.] (Subsequently certain letters and exhibits were received for the record and are printed in the Appendix.) APPENDIX GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Hon. CHARLES C. DIGGS, Jr., EXECUTIVE OFFICE, Washington, D.C., April 22, 1974. Chairman, Committee on the District of Columbia, House of Representatives, Longworth Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: At the request of the Government Operations Subcommittee during its hearings on April 3, 1974 on several bills to regulate campaign financing under the D.C. Self Government and Government Reorganization Act, the District has prepared the enclosed report. The Subcommittee expressed interest in receiving any data we could gather on actual campaign expenditures in other jurisdictions as well as any recommendations of appropriate limits for expenditures in local campaigns. The report includes summaries of the data we collected on experience elsewhere. We have also included as attachments available detailed information on media costs and direct mailings. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. Sincerely. BEN W. GILBERT, Director. STAFF REPORT--CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES (APRIL 19, 1974) This report was prepared from available data at the request of the House District Committee. The purpose of the research was to assist the committee at its request in establishing appropriate campaign expenditure limits for the elections to be held under the new home rule government. There are the following offices to be considered: To provide a basis to establish limits for the first home rule election for the Mayor and Council, it would be appropriate to examine other experience. It is also relevant to look at media costs in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C. It is clear that the amounts spent on elections in other cities vary widely, depending, no doubt, on the intensity of particular contests, on the length and nature of the campaigns waged, on media costs and on population. It would appear that media costs are likely to be an important factor in making any judgment with respect to elections in Washington, D.C. The limits will probably determine the extent and nature of any media campaign that is likely to be waged both in primaries and in general elections. It should be noted that general circulation daily newspapers and major television stations base their rates on their ability to cover a population of about 3 million persons of which the District of Columbia's 750,000 is but one quarter. Unduly tight limits on funding might result in highly restricted campaigns and could favor well known persons and incumbents over less well known individuals. Unrestricted spending could open the way to abuses. So the task is to find the appropriate middle ground to assure the integrity of the electoral process while providing for adequate exposure of the candidates. (367) 31-517-74-vol. 2 -9 The Library of Congress Congressional Research Service provided some data which this report will endeavor to supplement. The top total recorded by the Library of Congress was filed for combined primary and general elections for Mayor and Council in Houston, a total of $1,585,254, with each of two Mayoral candidates spending in excess of $700,000. Totals in other cities varied widely from the Houston figures. In Boston, for instance, a total of $869,000 was spent in 1971 with the Mayoral winner spending $294,000 in the primary and $251,000 in the general election. Although detailed figures on the recent municipal election in Atlanta are not available, the New York Times has reported that the winning Mayoral contender spent in excess of $400,000 during that campaign. Figures on the 1972 Baltimore municipal election which were obtained from official records show that more than $1,100,000 was spent by officials in city-wide contests in the primary and general elections. One primary contender for Mayor spent $435,000 while the winning candidate's slate spent a total of about $600,000 for the primary and general elections. The Baltimore report also provides some insights into possible costs for Councilman other than Council President. Those costs ranged from a total for all candidates in one District in excess of $59,000 to under $14,000 in another District. A summary is also available of recent municipal elections in New York City collected by Common Cause. This summary shows total expenditures in excess of $3.800,000. Figures are also provided for a County executive contest in Montgomery County, Md., but they reflect a smaller population and a somewhat different media situation because of the availability of suburban newspapers with wide coverage. All the figures, of course, are subject to the caution expressed by Sandra S. Osbourn of the Library of Congress in her report to Congressman Fauntroy that: "In most cases, the actual expenditures were probably higher . . . since the totals did not reflect committee contributions, or outstanding debts." The figures collected by us to supplement the Library of Congress report reflect what was available on the public record and have not been subject to independent audit or verification. In trying to determine where the District of Columbia should be placed in this wide-ranging picture, Washington area media costs must be taken into account. Newspapers Full page newspaper costs range from $4,524 for the Sunday Washington Post to a daily rate of $3,535 for the Washington Star News and $756 or $1,260 for the Washington Afro-American, depending on the day of publication. Major fractions of full pages are roughly in proportion. Television and Radio Television costs depend on a great many factors including the broadcasts time, the frequency and the day of the week. Prime time costs for a 60 second spot on TV vary from $500 to $2,500. These figures do not include production costs which can be substantial. The cost of radio is much lower than the cost of TV time. Direct Mail A recent information mailing to all registered voters by the District election board cost $24,500. A sample ballot mailing about to go out is expected to cost $40,500. Other Costs There are other costs to take into account including office space, telephone costs, secretarial help, transportation, miscellaneous painting, etc. Suggested Limits Because of cost levels and the need to permit competing candidates adequate exposure, it would appear reasonable to establish a spending limit of $200,000 for a Mayoral candidate in a primary contest and to allow a similar limit for the general election. For candidates for chairman of the city council, a maximum of $150,000 for the primary with a similar maximum applying to the general election would appear appropriate. Presumably, it would be desired to scale down substantially the limits for Council and School Board candidates at large. By the same reasoning, ward candidate limits could be reduced sharply from at-large levels because of the smaller constituencies to be faced. The limits for advisory council candidates need not be addressed at this time since it would be appropriate for the elected City Council to establish them at the same time that the ANC districts are set up. There will be close monitoring of this first election by the Congress, the media and the electorate. The requirements for public reporting of receipts and expenditures will facilitate this monitoring. With the benefit of this experience and the experience of other jurisdictions which are now developing guidelines and limits for campaign spending, it will be possible for the city council, subject to Congressional oversight, to take whatever further action may be indicated. Meanwhile, the effort should be to achieve the stated goal of assuring the integrity of the electoral process while providing for adequate exposure of the candidates. NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING COSTS Post.-(Rate Schedule Attached.) Mr. Cummins, 223–7762. One flat rate for non-Presidential elections (rate after May 1, 1974). Normally, no special costs unless the art department has to do art work (draw us an eagle); in that case, $10/hr. Sending rate card. Star-News.-Rate Schedule Attached. Pat Corbett, 484-5000. Full page-2,472 lines_. Half page-1,236 lines_ Quarter-618 lines_-_ $3, 535 1, 767 884 Sending rate card. Normally, no extra production costs unless the art department is involved in a 3-4 hour job doing fancy artwork. Then, they charge what the artists charge them; about $14/hr. This rate is commissionable to agencies, with a 2% discount for payment within 2 weeks. Afro-American.—Mr. Butler, 332-0080. One flat political rate: 30¢ per line for either the Tuesday or the Friday editions; 50¢ per line for both days if copy is identical. Full page-2,520 lines_. Half page-1,260 lines- Quarter-630 lines__ No additional costs for production. Sending rate card. BEN GILBERT, Division of OBM, Washington, D.C. THE WASHINGTON POST, Washington, D.C., April 17, 1974. DEAR SIR: Per my phone conversation today with Ms. Marindin, I am sending on a copy of our new General advertising rate card which becomes effective April 29th. Please see section 10 of the card for the Political (election) rates. JAMES E. CUMMINS, 1 Linage counts toward fulfillment of bulk contracts. 2 Daily and Saturday or daily and Sunday. May start in either and must be completed within insertion. (Saturday-Sunday acceptable.) 2. Deadlines $2.22 $2.42 2.04 2.23 1.97 2.14 1.92 2.10 1.90 2.08 1.87 2.05 1.84 2.02 1.83 2.01 1.82 2.00 1.81 1.99 Daily.-Space reservations and cancellations 6 P.M. three days prior to publication date. Sunday. Living in Style, Travel, Resorts, Society, Garden, Editorial Section, Foreign Section-6 p.m. Wednesday. Financial-noon Friday. All others-6 p.m. Thursday. Book World-6 p.m. Tuesday. Position charges.-When available: page 2 or 3 $1.10 per line additional charge. Specified pages and sections, other than page 2 or 3, $1.00 per line. For specific sections, see deadlines relating to Feature Pages and Sections. Inserts.-Preprint Roto or B&W Multiple Page Sections-850 line Page. Size 8 page or less-$16.52 per M., add $2.55 for each additional 4 pages. Preprint charges are shown on separate sheet. Roll-fed preprints.-Can publish under certain conditions. It is advisable to check with Newspaper or Nat'l Representatives for availabilities. Spectacolor and HI-FI Rates and specifications on request. Two week option required. Space spots.-Mon. thru Sat. (Sunday at Advertiser's option). 33.13% discount from Open rate (Daily-$1.48 per line; Sunday-$1.61 per line). Must run 6 |