/ Source: The Associated Press
The House has voted to abolish the system of partial federal funding for presidential campaigns.
The legislation passed 239-160. It would end the current system that allows people to check a box on their income tax return and dedicate $3 of their payments to presidential candidates.
Supporters said the bill would reduce federal spending by $617 million over a decade, and the bill marked an early example of House Republicans working to reduce deficits.
Democrats generally opposed the bill. It faces an uncertain future in the Senate. The White House has announced its opposition.
The system has been in effect for more than 30 years. It was put into place in reaction to the Watergate scandals of the Nixon years in the early 1970s.