California OKs donations via text

California became the first state to allow people to make political campaign contributions via text messages.

“We have an obligation to bring more people into our democratic process,” said Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, which approved the change in a 3-to-0 vote. “This is one small step we are taking to allow this to happen and to allow people who can’t go to big fundraisers that are $1,000 a head or more to participate.” “It’s now up to the industry to implement this and we realize it will take some time before that happens,” she said.

But the wireless industry was not happy with the new regulation, which places no limits on the amount of money a person can contribute via text message. “We oppose today’s action by the California Fair Political Practices Commission because it needlessly places wireless carriers in the middle of a conflict between federal and state campaign finance laws,” said Mike Altschul, senior vice president and general counsel at CTIA-The Wireless Industry Association. “CTIA looks forward to working with California FPPC on alternative mobile payment mechanisms that harness the benefits of wireless technology without creating legal conflicts.”