Utah bills homing in on campaign finance

Utah lawmakers have been somewhat less than enthusiastic for "reforming" their own campaign finance rules. But a number of such bills have been filed for the 2008 Legislature, with legislators across the political spectrum saying it is time to tighten up their own reporting to ensure a more level financial playing field.

Fines for violations could run more than $1,000.

There are at least a dozen bills being drafted pertaining to state office campaigning, including:

• Conservative Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, who is tired of judges putting wayward candidates back on the ballot after the candidates failed to file critical campaign disclosure reports on time — the penalty in the law now being their names struck from the ballot.

• And moderate Republican Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, who says too many candidates, including some sitting officeholders, and political issue committees and political action committees, are playing games with the reports. They are not listing substantial contributions and/or expenditures on their original reports, and then after an election they are filing an amended report that shows their real financial dealings.

"We have a drop-dead filing deadline" in law now for pre-election financial reports, says Hughes, who heads the House's Conservative Caucus. "But when a candidate misses it, he just runs to a judge, who puts his name back on the ballot. It causes confusion — are you running against this guy or not? It's not right."

In 2006, six candidates for state offices — three major party legislative candidates and three school board candidates — who missed the filing deadline were reinstated by judges. All of them claimed either that they had technical problems with the state's financial disclosure law or misunderstood the law's deadline, and the judges ruled in their favor because they had met the spirit of the law.

Every election cycle, there are candidates who miss the deadlines and are removed from the ballot, although they are generally third-party candidates. Only once, in 2000, has a sitting legislator been removed from the ballot.

Missing the filing deadline should raise questions about the candidate or elected officials, especially about their ability to make hundreds of decisions while in office, Hughes said. Thus, a strict law which prohibits judges from placing a candidate back on the ballot is essential.

"We all need to be ready to live or die by that rule," Hughes said. "We have to make sure there is no room for a judge to dismiss the penalty."

Allen said she couldn't say for sure that some candidates or PACs are purposely filing incomplete reports, only to come back later after the primary or general election to file amendments.