Sponsors receive award
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Sponsors of campaign reform~ ·
;bill receive leadership award ~L
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The league will hold a towri1
hall meeting on election admin::;J
istration reform from 10:30 a.m. '
to noon today in the hotel'S":,
grand ballroom. The public is'<
encouraged to attend. ,~
, The meeting, will bring'8
together the supervisors of:(
elections for Leon and Broward'
counties, Assistant General'>'
Counsel Amy Tuck Whitman ,
of the Florida' secretary ofJ,
state's office, Knight Founda....'
tion president Hodding Carter'
111 and the ,directors of twel!
voter advocacy organizations. ;:1
The league has 130,0001
,members across the countryS
divided into state and local'
,chapters.' Florida has 30 10caIl
chapters and 3,500 members, ..
making it the fifth largest dele-"" ,
gation after Ciuifornia; Illinois;:
Massachusetts and New Yorkf"
, "Campaign finance reform'~
,has been a long-time issue for1 '
the league," said Jane Gross ofl
Plantation; president of the'
league's Florida chapter. :'We" ';',
have' worked tirelessly' for?
change." "
":We'll lobby, we'll write letn '
ters to the editor, we'll makJ'
the case," added Kay Maxwetl, I'
who is running unco~tested t~ I
become the leagu. e's next tj
national president., , ' .
Following his address, Shays
credited the continual push by \
the league arid other advocacy ,
groups for getting the'Shays-
Meehan bill passed. . ,', .' ,
"This didn't happen because ,
l,odeB m Coo,,~, wm'" ",.
to happen," Shays said in an I
interview. ,':In the RepU~licanll . '
party, we decided'to go with
our constituents rather than
our leaders.": . .... '\,
Shays said'his sponsorship I
of the bill J;Wl!s.. popular with.
constituents but \ilienated some I
partY.meniberS.\; 'I ,-', .'
"It hasibeen( a rebuilding
process w!thni'y.' colleagues,"
, he said. ,,;,,'YS" '
BY DANIEL A; GRECH
dgrech@herald.com
The two congressional spon-
sors of the campaign finance
reform law passed earlier this
year received' a leadership
award Sunday from The
League of Women Voters at its '
national convention'in Miami
Beach's 'Fontainebleau HoteL
It was the first time in its 82-
Y17ar history that the advocacy
group held its national conven-
II tion in Florida. '
"Campaign finance reform
was a grass-roots effo,rt," U.S.
Rep. Christopher Shays,
R-Conn., told the audience of
800 league delegates represent-
" ing all 50 states. "A lot of times
you had to speak up for me
when I coulCt,n't speak for
:, myself. ' '
t "I want to say again, and say
again, and say again: Thank you
all," said Shays; who was given
several standing ovations dur-
ing his appearance at the con-
vention. "You made the differ~
ence."-
U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan,'
D-Mass.; cosponsor of the cam-
paign finance reform bill and
cowinner" of the leadership ,
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THE WEEK
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,award, was not able to attend
the convention because his '
wife is eight-months pregnant.
"I figured if anyone would
understand, you would," Mee-
han told the audience in a pre-
recorded statement. Delegates
responded with applause.
The league's current
national president, Carolyn Jef-
. ferson-Jenkins, said the pair,
was recognized with the Civic
Leader Award for their "stead-
fast effort and, unwavering
determination" in pushing for a
bari on soft money, theunlim-'
ited contributions to political
parties frdin corporations,.
unions and wealthy individuals.
Soft' money often funds
political campaigris, undermin-
ing legal limits on donations to
individual politicians.
: Theleague holds its national
convention every two years to
update its policy agenda and
elect anew board. This year's
convention began Satun!,ay
under the slogan "It's up to us!" "
and will ehd Tuesday. . "-
League members decided
that reforming how' elections
are administered and financed
are its top policy items for the
coming y~ar.
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