New move to increase taxpayer money in White House races

Tuesday, January 30th 2007, 9:44 pm

By: News On 6

CAPITOL HILL (AP) _ The price tag for a presidential campaign is closing in on a (b) billion dollars. So now there's a move afoot on Capitol Hill to use more taxpayer money to cover those ever-growing costs.

Four lawmakers are joining forces on legislation to increase the amount of public money used for White House races. It would triple what candidates could get during state primaries, while the amount available in the general elections would climb to 100 (m) million.

Those in favor say it would cut the influence that special interest groups have. And to pay for the increase, they want the voluntary checkoff box on tax returns increased from three dollars to ten.

If the changes become law they won't affect the 2008 race.