Los Angeles City Council members propose campaign reforms on donations

Barry O’Neill, a UCLA political science professor, said he believes political campaigns should be publicly funded. He added he thinks politicians should not have to solicit campaign funding because it can lead to conflicts of interest and simply takes too much time.

O’Neill added that the proposals to ban campaign donations from developers could hypothetically be beneficial, but developers would likely challenge them in the Supreme Court for infringing on their freedom of speech and right to donate. At the same time, it would send a symbolic message to Los Angeles and the country about campaign finance reform, he added.

The city council’s efforts to limit political conflicts of interest are relevant to current national politics, O’Neill said.

“People are more conscious than before of these issues (because of) the accusation that (Donald) Trump has special interests, and also investments in foreign countries,” O’Neill said.