- According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) "public financing of Presidential candidates was first proposed....in 1907. In his State of the Union message that year, President Theodore Roosevelt recommended public financing of federal elections and a ban on private contributions."
- Several attempts were made to pass the legislation and in 1974 the third amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act was passed and the first public financing began in 1976.
- If they meet certain criteria Presidential Primary candidates are eligible for partial public financing in the form of matching funds. According to the FEC "The federal government will match up to $250 of an individual's total contributions to an eligible candidate." The candidate must also agree to:
- Limit campaign spending for all primary elections to $10 million plus a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
- Limit campaign spending in each state to $200,000 plus COLA, or to a specified amount based on the number of voting age individuals in the state (plus COLA), whichever is greater.
- Limit spending from personal funds to $50,000.
- The Presidential Election Campaign Fund that actually issues the checks to the campaigns is funded with the $3.00 that taxpayers can designate by checking a box on their Federal Income Tax returns.
- According to the Associated Press John McCain is the only remaining candidate to request public financing. Reportedly he submitted the request last summer but, has yet to receive the funds which will be available next month.
- Using the public financing will limit the amount of money McCain can spend on his primary campaign to approximately $54 million.
- Last week McCain submitted a letter to the FEC asking to withdraw his previous request for public financing.
- The AP reports that similar requests were approved by the FEC for Elizabeth Dole and Howard Dean but, that the "commission does not have a quorum and would be unable to approve McCains's request"
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