For Immediate Release: Friday, March 8, 2019
The Montgomery County Council will hold a public forum on Tuesday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m. on the County’s Campaign Finance Program. Residents are encouraged to testify regarding their observations, opinions, and experiences to help inform the Council’s future deliberations on this matter.
In 2014, the Council enacted Bill 16-14 establishing a voluntary public campaign financing system for candidates for County Council and County Executive. Beginning with the 2018 election, a candidate for Council or Executive could seek matching funds for small dollar contributions of $150 or less from a Public Election Fund.
During the program’s inaugural election cycle, 68 candidates ran for either County Executive or County Council. Of the 38 candidates that filed an intent to use public campaign financing for one of these offices, 23 candidates ultimately obtained public financing. Two-thirds of Councilmembers that won an elected office in 2018 chose public financing, as did the County Executive. The County ultimately spent approximately $5.2 million during the 2018 elections on public financing ($4.1 million during the primary election and $1.1 million during the general election).
The Council recognizes though successful in 2018, there may be room for improvement of the Program. As either a participant, non-participant, or interested individual, feedback on the program is welcomed.
The public forum will be held in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building, which is located at 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville. The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM) on Xfinity channels 6 and 996, RCN channels 6 and 1056; and FiOS channel 30. It also will be available live via streaming through the Council website at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8.
Those interested in testifying at the public forum can begin signing up online at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/phsignup.html or by calling 240-777-7803. The deadline to sign up is March 26 at 10 a.m.
For additional information on the County’s Campaign Finance Program, contact Amanda Mihill at 240-777-7815.
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Release ID: 19-088