On February 20, 2024, Legislative Director Kevin Kinnally testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in support of HB 769- Local Campaign Public Financing- Expansion to Additional Offices. This bill expands the offices for which a county may establish public campaign financing.
Currently, counties may authorize public campaign financing for elected offices in the executive and legislative branches of county government. This bill enables counties that have implemented a system of public campaign financing for at least one election cycle to expand the offering to candidates seeking to serve as a state’s attorney, sheriff, register of wills, judge of the circuit court, clerk of the circuit court, judge of the orphans’ court, or an elected member of the county board of education.
This legislation properly leaves the decision to establish public campaign financing in the hands of the local governments, who are best situated to determine whether such a policy is in their best interest. HB 769 ensures local governments have flexibility in enacting policies designed to serve and react to community needs and priorities.
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