Two ways to restrict the campaign-money flow.

• Author: Hansen, Karen

New Jersey and Nebraska are the most recent states to limit money's influence in campaigns.

Money, as the saying goes, has been the mother's milk of politics since the inception of the Republic. From the Virginia planters and the Boston Brahmins of colonial times through the patronage system of the Jackson era to the PACs of today, money is the essential element in elections.

In an atmosphere of public disdain for costly campaigns and the perception that those who receive the most are beholden to interests, not constituents, New Jersey and Nebraska are the most recent states to curb money's influence.

The catalyst for reform in New Jersey was a $2 million campaign for a special election to complete a 14-month Senate term, in which the loser had spent $35 a vote. Lawmakers ruled out public financing for legislative races (they do have it for gubernatorial contests), says Senate President Donald DiFrancesco, because the state's expensive media market would make public financing a costly venture without creating an equitable system for all candidates. New Jersey used as its springboard for reform recommendations of the Ad Hoc Commission on Legislative Ethics and Campaign Finance, chaired by Alan Rosenthal of Rutgers' Eagleton Institute of Politics. The essence of the report: The best way to limit special interests and provide for effective campaigns is to strengthen the political party system by strengthening party committees. The New Jersey law restricts individual legislators and candidates from receiving outright contributions from special interest groups. Instead, contributions are made through party leadership committees, and caucus leaders are responsible for dividing campaign funds among their members.

"This is obviously a powerful tool for any one person to have," said DiFrancesco, a member of the Rosenthal commission. "And throughout the legislative process there were many grumblings by the press, by interest groups and of course by other legislators about the potential misuse of that power and the possible propensity toward favoritism."

New Jersey's law caps contributions from an individual, a corporation, a union, a group or a political committee to $1,500, and PACs to $5,000 per election. Each party's state committee can receive a total of $25,000 from any individual or group.

"Some have criticized these figures as too high, but our goal was to create a balance where we could run a competitive campaign in an expensive media market...