Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Will Colorado Legislators Evade Campaign Finance Limits?
In the Novemeber 2002 election, Colorado voters approved tough limits on contributions to political candidates. I actually had a hand in drafting that initiative and helped a group called Voter Revolt get it passed.
But rather than abide by the will of the people, who by a two-to-one margin told legislators to strictly limit the contributions that they raised, legislators crafted a loophole called office holder accounts. The idea is that these aren't campaign accounts, and therefore they can accept unlimited contributions. Its basically their own personal version of soft money. Well, luckily the idea failed in the legislature last spring after the public got wind of it. But now its been revived by Secretary of State Donnetta Davidson. She's issued draft compliance rules for Amendment 27 that contain this officeholder account loophole.
Here's an editorial in the Rocky Mountain News with the details on this. Even though the Rocky opposed reform when it was on the ballot, they now have the integrity to at least call for the voters' will to be implemented.
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In the Novemeber 2002 election, Colorado voters approved tough limits on contributions to political candidates. I actually had a hand in drafting that initiative and helped a group called Voter Revolt get it passed.
But rather than abide by the will of the people, who by a two-to-one margin told legislators to strictly limit the contributions that they raised, legislators crafted a loophole called office holder accounts. The idea is that these aren't campaign accounts, and therefore they can accept unlimited contributions. Its basically their own personal version of soft money. Well, luckily the idea failed in the legislature last spring after the public got wind of it. But now its been revived by Secretary of State Donnetta Davidson. She's issued draft compliance rules for Amendment 27 that contain this officeholder account loophole.
Here's an editorial in the Rocky Mountain News with the details on this. Even though the Rocky opposed reform when it was on the ballot, they now have the integrity to at least call for the voters' will to be implemented.
