A Democratic candidate for Illinois governor has failed to get Senate approval for a plan to provide taxpayer funds to match small contributions to political candidates. State Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston is a 2018 candidate for the Democratic nomination that includes two independently wealthy candidates: Chris Kennedy and J.B. Pritzker. He is running as a candidate reliant on small-dollar gifts.
Biss is proposing that contributions of $25 to $150 be matched by six times that amount in public funds. It failed by one vote but Biss used a procedure to be able to call it again.
Spending would be capped at $25 million and participating candidates couldn't accept more than $500 from a single donor. Republicans criticized the plan because the state is billions of dollars in debt.
