California voters - for the third time in a decade - will decide whether political campaigns should be publicly financed.

Proposition 15 on the June 8 ballot drops the ban on public funding of campaigns and develops a pilot program for public financing that pins the cost on lobbyists.

The measure would significantly increase lobbyists' registration fees and use the extra money to finance campaigns for secretary of state in 2014 and 2018. Backers of the proposal say it will diminish the influence of big-money donors on lawmakers and make running for office easier for average Californians.

Current campaign fundraising practices lead to "the appearance of corruption and possibly actual corruption," said Trent Lange, chairman of the campaign to pass the measure.

On top of that, "you currently have to be wealthy or know wealthy donors to run for office. This governor's race is a perfect example of that," he said.

The Republican candidates, Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, have contributed a combined $90 million of their own money to the primary race.

Prop. 15 has been endorsed by a host of government reform groups, including the League of Women Voters, California Common Cause and the New America Foundation. The measure was placed on the ballot by the Legislature, where it barely passed and received no Republican support, and the campaign is backed by the California Nurses Association.

But opponents of the measure say it is much more than simply a pilot program and call it a disingenuous attempt to remove any restrictions on public financing of elections and that it could be taxpayers who wind up footing the bill for campaign spending.

California voters first passed the ban on public campaign financing in 1988. In 2000, 65 percent of voters rejected an attempt to lift the ban. Another attempt in 2006 failed with 74 percent of voters saying no.

"It sounds harmless and safe - everyone's for fair elections - but you have to look below the surface on these things," said Richard Wiebe, spokesman for the campaign against the measure. "They're playing 'hide the ball' here with the voters."

While the proposition does call for a pilot program for secretary of state races, it also completely repeals the ban on public financing, which will allow lawmakers from local to state levels to impose wide-scale public financing programs, he said.

Additionally, the funding for the pilot project almost certainly will be challenged in court. It relies on increasing the charge for lobbyists to register with the state from $12.50 per year to $350 per year, with that money going into a special fund. Wiebe predicts that if the courts block the fee, lawmakers would target the deficit-ridden general fund to pay for campaigns at the expense of other state programs.

Doing so would, however, require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature that has been nearly impossible to achieve on new spending proposals.

As written in the proposition, the pilot program would apply to candidates for secretary of state. Major-party candidates who have at least 7,500 people contributing $5 would be eligible for public financing. The $37,500 raised by those contributions could be used as campaign seed money.

Candidates would receive $1 million in base funding for primary campaigns, with another $4 million in matching funds available depending on how much is spent by opponents in the race who are not using public financing. A candidate in the general election would receive another $1.3 million in base funding with $5.2 million in matching funds available.

Minor-party candidates have lower thresholds and would receive less money for campaigns. Candidates participating in public financing would be restricted from receiving almost any other private contribution, except for legal defense, officeholder expenses and an inaugural party. Contributions to those combined would be limited to $500 per contributor per year.

If both Prop. 15 and Prop. 14, the top two primary measures, pass, Prop. 15 would be thrown into limbo because Prop. 14 would eliminate party-based primaries. The conflicts between the measures would require action by the Legislature, courts or voters.

Prop. 15

What it would do: Remove ban on public funding for campaigns and create a pilot program for financing for secretary of state races in 2014 and 2018.

Who's for it: Government reform groups and a host of other organizations, including the California Nurses Association.

Who's against it: The state's major lobbyist firms and business-sponsored political action committees.