Kansas Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins is defending a campaign finance change included in a massive spending bill passed recently by the House of Representatives. It allows private donors to give more money to political parties.
At a town hall meeting in Lawrence, Jenkins said the change shifts public funding currently allocated for political conventions over to medical research programs. She says public funds shouldn’t be supporting party conventions.
“It took away the taxpayer-funded political conventions and allows people to write big checks if they want to fund those sorts of things privately, and I think that was the right answer,” says Jenkins.
Some watchdog groups have criticized the move because it greatly increases the amount of money a single donor can give to a political party every year. They say it allows wealthy donors to have more influence within the political party and frees up more money the parties can spend on campaigns.