State Rep. Joe McDermott, D-West Seattle, has introduced a bill to allow public funds be used to finance political campaigns for local offices.

In 1992 voters approved Initiative 134, which limited all campaign contributions for legislative and statewide office, banned campaign contributions during legislative sessions and abolished public financing for both local and state candidates.

"Before I-134, local governments could decide if and how to use public funds for political campaigns, which was a good way to legally limit campaign spending and involve more citizens," said McDermott.

His bill seeks to bring that opportunity back to local governments and he cited the city of Seattle as an example, "it had a program for public campaign funding, which not only increased the number of candidates running, but also boosted the number of small contributions, so there was broader participation in the system."

The bill establishes that such programs would be created by ordinance and would be entirely voluntary.

In a public hearing on Jan. 10, the League of Women Voters, Washington Public Campaigns and the City of Seattle testified in favor of HB 1436 before the State Government Operations and Accountability Committee.

McDermott's bill passed that committee on Jan. 17 and was sent to the House Rules Committee.