State and Local Efforts to Control Political Contributions

Efforts to rein in money in politics might be considered dead on arrival in Congress since a Supreme Court decision opened the door to unlimited contributions to allies of presidential hopefuls. But in statehouses and city halls across the country, reform efforts are gaining traction.

From the conservative statehouse in Texas to the liberal city council in Philadelphia, measures aimed at curbing the flow of political money or disclosing its sources are being introduced and supported by members of both parties. Overall, more than 125 bills dealing with campaign finance reform have been introduced in 33 statehouses in the past five months, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics. More have been introduced in cities as well.

A major bipartisan win for reform advocates came in April when Montana’s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock worked with the GOP-controlled Legislature to pass a bill requiring all groups, including 501(c)(4)s to disclose their donors if they spend money on targeting or supporting a candidate within 60 days of an election.

Politicians on the state and local level, many of whom are afraid an outside group could fund a primary opponent against them, point to polls that show overwhelming support for campaign finance reform. A recent New York Times/CBS poll found that 85 percent of those surveyed believe the system for funding political campaigns needs either “fundamental changes” or a complete overhaul. Based on the same poll, Republicans were almost as likely as Democrats to favor further restrictions on campaign contributions.

On the federal level, since the Supreme Court opened the door to unlimited giving in the Citizens United v. FEC ruling, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has remained staunchly against efforts to limit political contributions, making it harder to garner GOP support on the issue.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) continues to blast the Koch brothers in floor speeches, and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has raised the issue on the campaign trail. But in the absence of any hope for reform, Democrats are joining Republicans in raising big money, limiting the recent flurry of activity on the issue to states and cities.

- Maryland - GOP Gov. Larry Hogan recently signed a bill to maintain the state’s public financing system after being the state’s first governor to be elected using it.

- Rhode Island - Gov. Gina Raimondo signed four bills strengthening the state’s campaign finance reporting laws.

- Maine - Reform advocates have gathered enough signatures to put an initiative on November’s ballot that would increase the amount of money available to publicly funded candidates and require all outside groups to list its top three donors in ads and mailers.

- Philadelphia Board of Ethics - Advanced a bill requiring all groups to disclose their donors and expenditures and could go into effect as early as July 1.

A new group, Take Back Our Republic, formed by John Pudner, who served as a political consultant to David Brat, the academic who ousted former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, is also trying to bring more conservatives on board with reform efforts. The group launched 17 chapters in states across the country this month.

Pudner said there’s a lot more resistance from Republicans within the Beltway on the issue compared to the rest of the country. “It seems to be the more conservative members who are most concerned,” he said, adding that the issue has created a “true left-right coalition” in many places.

Dale Eisman, spokesman for Common Cause, which has state chapters pushing for campaign finance reform across the country, pointed to polls showing strong support for at least disclosure, if not other campaign finance reforms, to explain recent GOP support.











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Senate Dems Push Campaign Finance Reform

Senate Democrats are making one last try to bring their chamber’s campaign finance records into the 21st century, but their effort to attach to it a critical government funding bill will likely require them to make concessions to Republicans to succeed.

Unlike House candidates, presidential hopefuls and political action committees, Senate candidates are not required to electronically file their campaign finance reports.  The result: Reporters, campaign finance experts and everyone else must manually scroll through fundraising report is not searchable.

So some Senate Democrats are pushing for a bill requiring e-filing to be attached to an expected omnibus government spending bill that would fund the government until next September, according to sources in both parties familiar with the discussions.  With Republicans taking the Senate in January, Democrats are hoping for one last opportunity to modernize the campaign finance record-keeping by marrying it with the must-pass omnibus.

The bill was written by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and has 52 co-sponsors, including 10 Republicans.  However, Senate Democrats are unlikely to win passage of such a provision without some concession to GOP members.  Republicans would likely insist on including one of their preferred campaign finance measures in return for the the e-filing legislation.

One such proposal that Republicans have floated as a trade-off would relax some coordination rules between political parties and outside groups and effectively override existing spending limits for coordinated spending between political parties and candidates.

That may be difficult for Democrats to swallow.

Though the GOP has not ultimately decided that that provision will be their ask, some campaign finance reformers have already begun pushing back against any such alteration of campaign finance rules.

“Our groups strongly oppose an effort being made by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to sneak a revision in the campaign finance laws into an omnibus appropriations bill that would for all practical purposes eliminate the limitations on coordinated expenditures by political parties,” the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21 and Public Citizen said in a statement.

Aides in both parties cautioned that the negotiations are fluid and there is no final agreement on campaign finance alterations, only that bargaining discussions are continuing.  If congressional leaders assess that involving campaign finance reform in a must-pass government funding bill would hurt the prospects of the omnibus, then both parties would likely drop their demands.  For congressional leaders there is little incentive to tanking a government funding bill over campaign finance reform.

“The cleaner the better,” said one source familiar with the discussions.

Since 2001, House and presidential candidates and PACs have been required to electronically file their campaign finance reports.  But the Senate evaded those requirements on a technicality, according to the Sunlight Foundation, leaving the Federal Election Commission to scan in thousands of pages each quarter and interested parties to try to piece together the money trail on their own.










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Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Mayor To Testify

From the NY Post article by Josh Margolin.

Mayor Bloomberg is set to testify in the criminal case of a political operative charged with stealing $1 million from Bloomberg's campaign.

The against former Bloomberg operative John Haggerty Jr. is set to open Sept. 12, and Bloomberg will be asked to explain how his 2009 campaign worked, how he spent nearly $110 million to win re-election and how he decided which civic and nonprofit groups benefited from his generosity, sources said.

"This is potentially explosive," said one person familiar with the confidential discussions between the Manhattan DA's Office and Haggerty's lawyers.

Bloomberg and former Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey are both going to appear on the prosecution's witness list, sources said. And even if they get scratched by the DA at the last minute, defense lawyers plan to include them on their roster.

The mayor has already testified before the grand jury that indicted Haggerty, but most of that testimony has not been revealed.

Haggerty's lawyers, according to sources, also are considering adding Bloomberg's top aide, First Deputy Mayor Patti Harris, to their witness list. And they are likely to call Bloomberg's 2009 campaign manager, Bradley Tusk.

Haggerty's attorneys, including former state Attorney General Dennis Vacco, plan to pry open secret discussions about the mayor's strategy to line up the support of City Council members in his bid to overturn term limits.

They also plan to question Bloomberg and Sheekey about the campaign's use of the state Independence Party to funnel money to Haggerty instead of simply channeling the funds through Bloomberg's own political operation.

The DA and defense lawyers have declined to comment on the case, citing the judge's gag order. Bloomberg's office also declined to comment yesterday.

The Haggerty trial is shaping up as one of the strangest and most intriguing in the city's political history. Prosecutors contend Haggerty, a GOP operative from Queens, committed grand larceny by stealing most of the $1.1 million Bloomberg passed to him through the Independence Party for a poll-watching operation on Election Day 2009.

Haggerty contends that he stole nothing and that the mayor never complained that any money was taken illegally.









NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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