Having run or been involved with numerous state races, I can tell you that the system currently in place is woefully lacking in regards to actual disclosure. Furthermore, having interned on the hill, I can also tell you that lobbyists love taking legislators out to lunch or give them nice little perks. It is for these reasons that I fully support Representative Steve Mascaro (R- West Jordan, District 47) in his effort to pass H.B. 84.
First, campaign financing. Did you know that any money you donate to a political campaign could be used for personal purposes? It’s true – your $100 could easily go towards buying that legislators wife a new dress (Curt Oda *cough* *cough*) or sending the kids off to summer camp. Furthermore if the candidate looses or has money left over in their account, they could easily spend that money as well on themselves – in short your donation is a gift to that person; if they so happen to use it on their campaign, all the better. Mascaro’s law would specifically prohibit this action by requiring that contributions can not be spent on anything “that is not reasonably related to the candidate’s election to the public office or to fulfilling duties of the public office.” The funds left over after a campaign must go to either political or non-profit groups, or to the state.
It should also be noted that reporting campaign contributions has been stepped up a notch. Currently the only information you need from a donor is their name (or companies name) and their address, along with the actual amount donated. This bill would require that occupation is included in all personal donations – not only is this standard in federal elections, it also allows people to see if organizations are bundling their contributions by funneling them through employees.
Finally, as far as reporting goes, this bill would require that the Lieutenant Governor maintain a website that features a searchable database and allows for summaries of donors and candidates alike. Currently the system is a mess that can often take days to sift through if you are trying to gain any meaningful information.
Second part of the bill: gift regulation. The whole reason that lobbyists are lumped in with legislators is due to the fact that, like legislators, lobbyists are required to report their spending.
As it currently stands lobbyists only need to report donations when their spending reaches $50 or more in any given day, and this spending can be for anything. This bill wants to modify that to anything more than $10 in any given day, and the lobbyist has to disclose the purpose of the spending (is it to build or maintain relationships, to demonstrate something, etc.). It should also be noted that any food o drink must be disclosed no matter what the price.
As usual, I am weary about the viability of any ethics or financing bill, not because I feel they are bad, but rather because I know they have a snowballs chance in hell. I want this bill to pass and this state needs this bill to pass if only to remove even the suggestion of shady deals.
