(The following article by Sharon Theimer was distributed by the Associated Press on May 21.)
WASHINGTON — The AFL-CIO wants its members to take advantage of a government decision allowing political candidates to pay themselves salaries from their donations, hoping it will build a field of worker-friendly candidates.
One Republican lawmaker from a large unionized state wants to bar the practice before anyone makes use of it.
The Federal Election Commission decided in November to let congressional challengers pay themselves, presenting it as a way to make it more affordable for the non-wealthy to seek public office.
Non-incumbent congressional candidates can pay themselves at a rate equal to what they earned in their regular job the previous year or the salary of the federal office they are seeking – whichever is less. House and Senate members make $154,700 a year, salaries they draw whether they are in Washington or not.
Rep. Phil English, R-Penn. is sponsoring legislation that would ban candidates from paying themselves or a family member a salary using campaign funds. He said the FEC policy would open up a new area of “unsavory practices.”
The AFL-CIO urged the commission to make the change and now is trying to make sure its members know about it.
“We viewed it as something that would in fact, for some people, give them an opportunity to run for office they otherwise would not have,” Gold said. Employers can’t pay workers while they campaign because it would be considered an illegal corporate campaign contribution, he said.
The Democratic-leaning union has been trying since 1994 to reclaim the House from Republicans. It has spent tens of millions of dollars on get-out-the-vote drives, political ads and other election activity.
A handful of union members ran for Congress last year, including at least two who won, and the AFL-CIO hopes candidate pay leads to more in 2004, union attorney Larry Gold said.
The AFL-CIO is publicizing the change to its members and highlighting it during union briefings on the nation’s new campaign finance law, Gold said.
The FEC and the Democratic and Republican party committees are unaware of anyone taking up the offer doing so, and an Associated Press review of the year’s first-quarter campaign finance reports found no candidate reporting drawing a campaign salary. English wants to make sure nobody starts.
“To my view allowing candidates to pay themselves to be candidates using special-interest money they have raised is the equivalent of hanging a `for sale’ sign on every candidate’s back,” English said.
English’s district is closely divided between Republican and Democratic voters and includes manufacturing and the steel industry. It went to Bush in the 2000 presidential election by only about 2,000 votes. Democrats haven’t fielded a strong House candidate there in years.
English said that when he first ran for Congress, he quit his job as a state legislative aide to campaign. He and his wife lived on her teaching salary and their credit cards for a year.
One unsuccessful 2002 House candidate, Democrat Travis Souza of Reno, Nev., said he couldn’t afford to take time off from his job to campaign. Souza is coordinator of the Instructional Center for Innovation at Truckee Meadows Community College.
Souza said he is considering whether to run for Congress again, and thinks the ability to pay himself a salary would allow him more time to fund-raise and campaign. Souza dismissed English’s “for sale” sign analogy.
“Like there’s not already?” Souza said. “The advertising (cost) is just outrageous and that’s where all the big money goes.”
Commissioner Michael Toner said more and more multimillionaires are running for Congress and bankrolling their campaigns.
“It’s very difficult for people of ordinary and middle-class means to run,” said Toner, a Republican. “The ability to pay a salary may be a modest first step toward leveling the playing field.”
Bill Miller, political director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the business lobby has no plans to mention candidate pay to its members. Candidates considering a campaign salary should first consider how the public may view it, he said.
“The press may not believe and the donor community may not believe this is the best use of candidate funds,” Miller said.