Editorial
writers, crusading columnists and reformers say it all the time: Illinois is
one of only a small handful of states which does not regulate campaign
contributions.
That's
technically true, but you might be surprised at how little some other states
actually regulate those contributions.
Gov.
Pat Quinn's independent reform commission has recommended that Illinois adopt
the same basic contribution limits for individuals and political action
committees as the federal government.
But if contribution limits are supposed to get the influence of money
out of politics, they've failed miserably in Washington, DC, where money has become
an obsession and that obsession rules all.
According
to a March analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures, some
states have few campaign contribution restrictions at all. Still others have much more stringent
caps than proposed by the governor's reform commission.
For
instance, neighboring Iowa has no limit on individual contributions to
candidates and doesn't cap state party contributions, political action
committee contributions or labor union contributions to candidates. However, Iowa does prohibit direct
contributions by corporations.
Here is a rundown of some other states...
*
Texas, Pennsylvania and North Dakota prohibit direct corporate and union
contributions to candidates, but have zero limits on any other contributions.
*
Indiana restricts contributions by corporations and unions to $5,000 per year
for statewide candidates and $2,000 per year for all other candidates. Individual, political action committee
and state party contributions are not limited, however. Mississippi and Alabama have similar
restrictions.
*
Ohio limits individual and PAC contributions to a somewhat odd $11,395.56 per
candidate, per election, while
capping state party contributions to $642,709.58 for statewide candidates,
$128,200.05 for state Senate candidates and $63,815.14 for state House
candidates. Corporate and labor
union contributions are prohibited.
*
According to the NCSL report, a total of 13 states have no caps whatsoever on
individual contributions.
Even more have no limits on state party contributions, although some
states, like Kentucky, require that candidates other than gubernatorial
candidates accept no more than half of their money from the state parties. Kansas is one of a small number of
states which severely restricts state party contributions during primaries, but
imposes no limit on general election spending.
*
California's contribution limits are much higher than the proposed
federal-style limits here in Illinois, perhaps reflecting its large numbers of
big media markets and the fact that limits are indexed to inflation. California caps individual, union and
corporate contributions at $25,900 for gubernatorial candidates, $6,500 for
other statewide candidates and $3,900 for legislative candidates. PAC contributions are roughly double
those limits. But last month, the
California's Fair Political Practices Commission reported that candidates have
still managed to raise almost $1.1 billion since the caps took effect in
January of 2001. That total did
not include independent expenditures, which would be a lot more money.
*
Florida, another large state with multiple TV markets, has a $500
across-the-board limit on campaign contributions from all sources. But recent local reporting has shown
how easy it is for special interests to get around those caps via "electioneering
communications organizations."
One example was an alleged scheme by Anheuser Busch to bankroll favored
candidates via a police union fund.
*
The state of New York uses a mathematical formula to limit individual, PAC and
union gubernatorial campaign contributions. The formula is based on the number of party members. New York also has a $100,000 limit on
family member contributions to legislative candidates. State party contributions to candidates
are prohibited in primaries, and unlimited in general elections. Corporations are limited to $5,000 per
year in aggregate.
*
Michigan prohibits all corporate and union campaign contributions and has very
low caps for all other contributions.
Statewide candidate contributions are limited to $3,400 for individuals
and many PACs per election cycle.
Senate candidate contributions are capped at $1,000 and House
contributions are limited to just $500.
"Independent" campaign committees have much higher caps.
As
you can plainly see, the range of limits is far broader than we are ever
told. This issue is not as black
and white as it's usually portrayed.
I actually favor contribution caps, but they should either be extremely
low with lots of safeguards (unlike Florida) to really stamp out the money, or
high enough that every check doesn't become an obsession. Illinois Senate Republican Leader
Christine Radogno has proposed a $10,000 cap on individuals and PACs. That seems reasonable to me.
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Rich
Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and
thecapitolfaxblog.com.