While Congress wrangles over whether to
shut down soft money, increase hard money and regulate issue ads,
and both major parties report record-breaking hauls of campaign
cash (of both varieties), something remarkably different is going
on in the states of Arizona and Maine.

There, thanks to last year's implementation of Clean Elections
systems that offer full public financing to candidates who voluntarily
agree to raise no private money and abide by spending limits,
the "normal" patterns of power politics are being subtly
transformed.

Clean Election incumbents, who number about one-third of the
Maine legislature and a smaller portion of the Arizona legislature,
report a greater feeling of independence from special interests
and more freedom to speak their minds. "The business lobbyists
left me alone," said state Rep. Glenn Cummings (D-ME), a
freshman that was the first candidate in the country to qualify
for Clean Elections funding. "I think they assumed I was
unapproachable. It sure made it easier to get through the hallways
on the way to a vote!" Added Rep. Marilyn Canavan (D-ME),
a former director of the state Ethics Commission, "You've
got a more independent group than ever before. It stands to reason
that if you don't have to rely on somebody for campaign funds
next time around, you're going to be more independent, in terms
of dealing with lobbyists."

Rep. Meg Burton Cahill (D-AZ), another freshman, laughed as she
recalled one episode from her term so far. "A lobbyist here,
the most powerful in the state, said I treated him badly because
I met with him on an issue and simply said I would take his information
into consideration along with the opposing view that I had already
heard. He wasn't used to that!" Said Rep. Jim Sedillo (D-AZ),
a former Justice of the Peace who is in his first term, "The
lobbyists have taken a whole different posture in dealing with
the Clean Election candidates. They come in, they're not overbearing
or threatening, and I understand that has happened in the past."
Of course, an incumbent who is not carrying a big campaign debt
or worrying about how they will finance their next race is in
a very different position than the "norm."

Perhaps more telling, the "normal" scene of lobbyists
and PAC directors handing out checks to members at the end of
each legislative session (both states have laws preventing such
donations while the legislature is meeting) appears to have dried
up. "It's been very quiet," reported Sharlene Bozack,
the director of the Arizona Clean Elections Institute, a non-profit
that works to educate candidates and the public on the state's
new law. With six out of seven of the major candidates for governor
there planning to qualify for Clean Elections funding and a majority
of the sitting legislators indicating a similar preference, wealthy
special interests are apparently finding it harder to court favor
with candidates with direct contributions to their campaigns.

It is too soon to say that money no longer talks in either state
capitol, but it clearly doesn't swagger as much. In Maine, the
legislature passed a bill creating a Health Security Board tasked
with devising a detailed plan to implement a single-payer health
care system for the state. The bill wasn't everything its sponsor,
Rep. Paul Volenik, wanted, but he saw real progress toward a universal
health care system in its passage. Two years ago, he noted, only
55 members of the House of Representatives (out of 151) voted
for the bill. This time 87 did, including almost all the Democrats
and a few Republicans. "The bill moved dramatically further
and a portion of that is due to the Clean Election system we have
here," Volenik said.

On another issue, advocates saw real progress, even though they
didn't get a final victory. Many businesses get reimbursed by
the state for paying taxes that have already been refunded to
them by local authorities, a form of corporate welfare known as
"double-dipping." This wasteful drain on the state treasury
has long rankled advocates for increased spending on social services,
but business groups have always out-lobbied them. "We got
further on that than ever before," said George Christie,
director of Maine's Dirigo Alliance. "The Clean Election
incumbents, particularly the freshmen, were the most vocal on
that, by far."

In both Maine and Arizona, there were attempts in the legislature
by opponents of public financing to undermine the state's new
systems. And in both states they were defeated. So the sorts of
changes in political behavior and policy that are beginning to
surface when elected officials aren't directly dependent on special
interest campaign contributions are likely to keep growing and
spreading. For once, instead of saying "Ouch!" at another
example of big money taking a bite out of our hides, we can say,
"Aahh."