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Strengthening
Our Democracy
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PIRGIM
Education Fund is working to promote Clean Money Campaign
Reform in Michigan. PhotosToGo. com
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Clean
Money Campaign Reform
Too often, wealthy special interests and those who make
large contributions to political campaigns determine who
runs for public office, who wins the election and, ultimately,
who controls the political process.
That's
why PIRGIM Education Fund is calling for Clean Money Campaign
Reform, which provides qualifying candidates with a set
amount of public funds to run for office if they agree to
limit their spending and reject contributions from private
sources. To this end, last year we worked across the state
to foster public understanding of the situation and highlight
possible solutions.
In June
2002, working with the Michigan Election Reform Coalition,
we co-hosted an educational, bipartisan town hall meeting
with over 70 community leaders in Detroit. The meeting provided
a forum for dialogue between community members and elected
leaders about the current campaign finance system as well
as Clean Money Campaign Reform.
The
forum was sponsored by community groups and statewide organizations
such as the Sierra Club, the Michigan Campaign Finance Network
and the NAACP and was endorsed by national leaders in the
reform community including Granny D, Public Campaign and
Alliance for Democracy. Also in attendance were leading
politicians.
This
successful event motivated other community groups in Grand
Rapids, Oakland County and northern Michigan to organize
similar events. In early 2002, we held a formal training
for residents across the state to assist them in organizing
their communities to promote Clean Money Campaign Reform.
Over the next year, PIRGIM Education Fund will continue
to educate citizens about big money in politics.
Youth
Vote
Declining
voter turnout is a troubling problem in our democracy, especially
among young people—in 1998, only 18 percent of young people
in Michigan who were registered actually voted.
In order
to increase the number of Michigan youth participating in
the electoral process, PIRGIM Education Fund, through our
Youth Vote program, worked with students from the University
of Michigan, signing up more than 2,400 Michigan students
and young people to vote in 2002 and contacting nearly 8,000
young people to encourage them to vote on Election Day.
In
April 2003, along with Youth Vote coalition, Michigan Campus
Compact and the Ginsberg Center for Service Learning, PIRGIM
Education Fund sponsored Seize The Day: A Student Action
For A Change, a conference that empowered and educated college-age
students to register others to vote and to take an active
role in the democratic process.
Home
| Drilling In The Great Lakes
| Clean
Water Enforcement | Strengthening
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Use And Liveable Communities | Cleaning
Up Our Air | Protecting
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Energy Future
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