Sen. Scott White is sponsoring legislation that would establish a framework for public financing of state Supreme Court campaigns. 

A public hearing was held on legislation, Senate Bill 5010, today in the Senate Government Operations, Tribal Relations, & Elections Committee.

“In the 2006 election cycle, more than $4.3 million was spent on races for the three open seats in the state Supreme Court,” White said.  “We need a judicial branch of government that is unbiased and impartial to such outside influences.”

White’s bill would create a voluntary public financing program for Supreme Court justice candidates who want to opt out of corporately financed campaigns.  Participating candidates would receive campaign funding in exchange for agreeing to program requirements, such as only accepting contributions from individuals and collecting at least 500 contributions that combined, total at least $41,050.