City elections might be cheaper for local candidates if a new campaign finance reform proposal passes at tonight's City Council meeting.

Outgoing City Council President Austin King, District 8, first announced the new proposal at a meeting last month. The plan calls for full public funding of all city elections for mayor, alder and municipal judge to become city policy.

The proposal will be debated and voted on at tonight's meeting.

"Public financing levels the playing field between challengers and incumbents, and it gives challengers a fighting chance," King said.

Although the proposal has received several co-sponsors, including Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, King said he expects there to be some opposition to his proposal.

In particular, he said, there is a divide on the council between alders who want the proposal enacted and those who would like to study it further.

"The AM radio crowd — people that get their cues from Rush Limbaugh and Vicki McKenna — are certainly going to have a line about how public financing of campaigns is a waste of money," King said.

George Twigg, communications director for Cieslewicz, said although the mayor supports the proposal, he hopes to find a way to prevent the bill from being passed on to taxpayers.

"He would like to see this funded through a voluntary check-off system, as opposed to general tax dollars," Twigg said.

A check-off system would allow taxpayers to donate money on their tax forms, similar to other boxes that can be checked to donate money to political campaigns.

Another goal of King's proposal is to increase the number of women and minorities who seek public office.

Twigg said the mayor hopes this proposal would ensure the city has a diverse group of employees.

Cieslewicz is looking to win a second term as mayor this April. His opponent, Madison Times owner Ray Allen, thinks the proposal still needs to address some concerns, according to spokesperson Semmi Pasha.

"This proposal is something that always sounds good, but once you get into the details, that's when it falls apart," Pasha said. "[City Council members] chase after these nice-sounding names that either, A, don't do anything, or B, are impossible to implement."

Pasha said Allen would also not like to see this plan use taxpayer funds, as plans that do are usually "overwhelmingly unpopular" with the public. He also raised some First Amendment concerns with the proposal, saying campaign contributions are a form of free speech.

King said he feels confident the public would support a proposal like this.

"I think the public generally supports clean elections," King said.

If the proposal receives at least a two-thirds vote tonight, it will take effect for the next city election in 2009.